Synergy
by Agent 0r4ng3
Summary: A freak 'gas-line break' in the local cafe renders her blind and scarred, with no mention of the giant robots that caused the injury. Her brother is hauled in by 'Sector Seven,' whoever they are, for hacking top secret information. A car just kidnapped her, demanding her to take him to his twin brother. Since when does a car have a brother? Sunny/OC/Sides slow-build
1. Caecus

**Chapter 1: Caecus**

(Latin: _blind, unseeing)_

* * *

AN: I don't own Transformers, and that disclaimer applies to this entire story.

* * *

I smiled at the tall boy; he pushed his glasses up, a small smile on his lips.

"Liam, you finished that physics worksheet already, right?"

He nodded once, eyes fixed on my face.

Liam was pretty much gorgeous, and he was the sexiest thing I'd ever seen. Cropped black hair, deep, dark eyes and square black glasses perched on a straight nose, over pale skin.

"Did you complete the assignment as well?"

I nodded quickly, and dug around in my bag for a pen. "Yeah, I just had problems with number six, on the tension in the cable."

He nodded once, eyes still focussed on mine. "That one was at a more advanced level; I estimate that at least half of the class would have difficulties deciphering the correct equation. What answer did you come up with?"

"Nine point three Newtons."

"You are not in the percentage of the class to have difficulties with the question."

I grinned widely at him. He was such a nice guy – super formal and not so great with social customs, but a true friend once you got to know him well enough. I'd known him since he moved here, which was getting on seven years ago.

When I met him, he was really shy, and quiet, which worked for me, because I was too. We had been assigned together for a history project, and discovered that we were quite similar. I accidentally trashed his geometry set, and in buying a new one for him, we became best friends.

Well, he states that I merely annoyed him into speaking. Which people might believe, but I knew better.

Watching him carefully, I smirked when I noticed his attention lingering just behind my right shoulder. About a year ago, I had realized that I really, really liked him. But his attentions were focused on Rebecca Williams – a super nice, athletic, smart girl. Who was probably talking with her friends, behind my right shoulder.

"Pig alert?" I purred at him, ignoring the clench in my own stomach. It hurt to think of his crush.

"She is hardly a pig, Alexandra."

I shrugged. "It's code; from that movie about the pig called Babe. You think she's gorgeous, hence, a babe. So I call her pig." Not to mention I wanted to hate her guts because Liam likes her, but couldn't, because she's the nicest person I've ever met.

"It is not very flattering, none the less."

Another shrug. "Eh. What she doesn't know won't hurt her."

He gave me a level look and then returned to Becky-watching. His favorite past-time, apart from studying.

In some ways, he was still such a shy little boy, and in others a mature, responsible young man. I liked both sides to him. Which is why I needed to make sure he was happy – and if that included chaining him and Becky together, or locking them in a closet, or rigging the partner system in our shared history class, well, so be it.

It hurt though, no doubt about that.

I smacked Liam in the shoulder. "Later!"

Jogging off to my car, I sat in the front seat and clenched the steering wheel for a few moments, knuckles white, before reversing and pulling out. My scant notes on multiculturalism were grouped together in my bag, ready for me to pull them out and create a kick-ass essay that would blow my history teacher away.

Ha. That was Liam's forte, not mine. I wasn't good in school. I wasn't athletic. I wasn't even good at talking to people. Eh. Eventually, there'd be something that I was good at.

I pulled into our driveway, and parked. Grabbing my bag from the back and snatching my phone from the front, I trotted to the house and ducked inside.

"I'm home!" I hollered, and heard Mom welcome me in the kitchen. Our house smelled good, like chicken and fresh-baked bread.

Ducking into the kitchen, I snagged a little piece of warm bread. Mom bopped me on the head with a wooden spoon.

"Make sure to save room for supper."

I nodded, ecstatic. Mom was great at cooking.

Jace came by my, smacking my head "accidentally" with his laptop when he moved behind me to snag a massive hunk of bread.

I elbowed him in the stomach, hard. He merely smacked my head with the laptop again.

Mom bopped him on the head with the spoon as well.

Jace was my older brother by six years. He was from Mom's first marriage, so he was really my half brother. At first, we hated each other, but now, he was one of my best friends.

I smirked, eating the rest of my bread in the kitchen, lounging against the wall, watching my family (other than Dad) move and eat and make sarcastic comments.

Jace started tapping at something on his laptop again, chewing unseeingly on his bread. I flicked a pen from my bag at his head, and looked innocent when he glared and chucked it back.

Settling down to be productive, I used the pen Jace had so thoughtfully thrown back to me, and started scrawling down ideas to use for the three body paragraphs.

After a while of working on my essay, Dad came in the front door, and hung up his jacket. I looked up, and smiled a litte, putting my essay away. Mom asked me to set the table, and I did a little obligatory grumbling before snapping to, and setting it as quickly as I could. I also placed a few hot-pads for the meat and vegetables. Wasn't I just the greatest daughter ever?

After we ate, Jace had to clean up, and put the dishes in the washer. Mom called it his obligatory rent. He was in university, and the parents had said he could stay at home still as long as he did some chores and helped clean up.

Pretty simple, and free rent. I knew that he didn't really mind. He was going to make some girl really happy someday – could (sometimes) cook, clean and even do laundry. My big brother was a catch and a half – if he'd ever get off his laptop and get a real job, instead of the computer-geek stuff he did on there all the time.

I waved goodbye to my family, smirking at the still busy cleaning Jace. He smirked at me, and waggled his eyebrows.

"Tomorrow's your turn, and she's making stew."

I groaned on my way out, checking to make sure my laptop was in my bag. Mom was the most notorious woman at making stew ever. She'd manage to use nearly every pot in the house, almost all the cutting boards and knives, as well as make a mess of the counters.

It was delicious when she was done though.

Jumping into my old car, I started it up, and putted down to the little café on the corner of main street, the sun setting slightly in front of me.

Inside the little green café, tinted by the sun, I ordered a hot chocolate, and made a bee-line for the farthest booth, slipping into the seat.

After an hour or two, the sun was completely set, and the moon was almost visible from my angle.

I hummed slightly, fingers curling around the yellow mug. The other hand tapped on my laptop's keyboard, inputting my thoughts for the essay on multiculturalism that my history teacher wanted. This little café, hidden in plain sight on the corner of our town, was perfect for studying, writing and people-watching. Maybe not so much people watching now that it was late, but during the day it was great.

I took a deep draught of the now-cold hot chocolate, and returned to the fantastic world of history. Note sarcasm. With relish, I tapped in the few last sentences, pressing down the keys with aplomb. I hit save, and sighed heavily, slumping back in my booth and hitting 'save' repeatedly.

Last essay of this semester, now completed. Pure bliss shot through me as I reread the prose-heavy document on my blue Acer.

I had had such good luck today – my laptop, the prissy little thing it was, had behaved perfectly, and not conked out on me in the middle, nor had I had any problems with thinking of the words for the essay.

Clicking my laptop shut, I stuffed it into my messenger bag, and stood to leave.

The wall exploded. I froze, in startled horror. It seemed like metal shot through the wall, and pieces of mortar and brick crumbled down, breaking through the glass counter. I fell to the ground on my butt, heart racing.

Rylie, the lady who always worked the Wednesday shift, screamed loudly. My eyes flashed to her, and I screamed when a piece of metal sliced through her stomach, spilling out blood through her previously-white, crisp uniform shirt. The center was stained red, and her eyes were empty, dead and gone.

She crumpled, cut like an abandoned puppet's strings. The woman vanished behind the counter.

A massive wave of shiny, glittering silver metal crashed through the remnants of the wall, landing on the table where the old lady had sat. She disappeared in a crash of steel, and sparks from where the metal grated against each other.

Was it a terrorist attack? A bombing?

I desperately looked around, wanting a door or something to escape out of. My fingers scrabbled for purchase on the smooth tile of the floor, slipping backwards as fast as I could move. What the hell was going on?

Hooking my fingers around one of the booths, I peered around the corner, and stared at the flashing silver metal. It looked like…two large metal people, fighting. But that couldn't be right – perhaps their programming was glitchy?

Well that was one hell of a huge freaking glitch! Now two people were dead!

I stared some more, and then heard, through the massively loud clashing of the two robots, a human scream that trickled off into a little groan. What if Rylie was still alive?

Crawling across the floor, I slipped slightly, accidentally staining my pants with dark fluid that smelled coppery. I wasn't going to pry into what it was – I knew. One of the robots was directly above me with one strong push from the other, darker robot. As I was frantically dodging the flashing feet, equipped with wheels, I leapt forwards, trying to make it through the feet and to Rylie.

Perhaps she was still alive, and needed me.

As I moved, a shard of piercing hot metal landed on my shoulder, and a thick pain went through my shoulder as something dug in. My hand clasped to my shoulder as my left hand hung limply at my side, and a hot fluid coated my collarbone, making my fingers slippery.

I was almost to the counter when a ripping sound above me made me pause. Hot, blue liquid trailed over me, burning every inch it touched. I screamed shrilly, the pain making me nearly black out. I lay still on the ground, and more blue fluid trickled over me, causing more pain, so much so that I couldn't move. A few drops landed on my face, and the pain caused my eyes to open for a brief second. Some splashed in, and I started screaming even more, hands coming up to paw at my eyes frantically, the pain feeling like I was being stabbed in the eyes, over and over and over.

The two robots were still fighting, and they smashed through the front of the store, into the street. It was a quiet street, and no one else was there. I lay in the destroyed café, screaming as loudly as I could – I felt my voice shaking, and knew that soon I wouldn't be able to make noise.

Rolling over on the floor, I felt like ripping my eyes out, and tearing my skin off if only I could _make the pain _stop. Stop, stop, stop.

I kept my eyes clamped closed, rubbing them with my fists, dragging my nails down my face in an attempt to rake out my eyes.

The pain mounted even more, and then I felt the world dim, the pain receded, and I felt it wash over me. Peace.

I passed out, gladly going into the darkness that whispered promises of no pain, only rest.

* * *

When I woke, it was to blackness. I couldn't open my eyes; something was over top of them. My right hand twitched, and pain flared up my arm. I lifted the burning limb, and touched my face, feeling the thick material covering my eyes. I pulled at it, my actions gaining intensity until I was nearly clawing at the cloth with my right hand – my left wasn't moving.

I started breathing quickly, nearly hyperventilating as I started squirming and pain flared up my whole body.

A hand gripped my right hand from tearing at the bandages anymore. I started, and then relaxed at the pressure – I knew this hand.

"Mom?" I tried, and then winced, and swallowed. My throat felt raw, which was understandable, considering I…what had I seen again?

The pressure on my hand tightened, and another hand joined it, rubbing over mine. It stung, and I bit my lip harshly to distract from the feeling.

"I'm here, honey," I heard her say in a shaky voice, and the hand rubbed a little more firmly, causing a larger jolt of pain to hit me.

"Mom…how long have I been here?" My voice was raspy and dry.

"Almost four days," she said softly, like she was afraid that this was a dream. Her hand increased its pressure on mine. She called outwards, "George, Jace, come see Alex – she's awake!"

I heard something open, and the noise from the hall temporarily entered the room. My brother's voice was loud in the quiet room.

"Hey, about time you woke up."

A smack from mom and a few harsh words, and Dad came over. "Hey kiddo, good to see you awake."

The pain was mounting again; building in me the longer I was awake.

I coughed, and felt something burning at my insides. "What…what happened?"

Mom spoke, still crushing my hand. "Oh, honey, they found you in that café you like so much, unconscious. They brought you here. They said that the gas line exploded and you were caught in the blast…" she spoke quietly, like she was afraid I was going to fall to pieces if I learned the truth.

Confusion laced through me. Had I dreamed up the giant robots? The massive, silvery robots that destroyed the building?

Mom moved; I could hear her jacket slide over her arm and she let my hand go with one of hers, to something beside me.

"I'm just calling the nurse in to check you out – they'll want to know you're awake, love."

I hummed slightly in agreement, still confused. There was no way I simply "made up" two giant metal robots duking it out in the middle of the café. Gas line, my ass.

Someone else came into the room, and I listened as she spoke to my parents, like I wasn't even in the room.

"Alex…I don't know how to say this…but, you won't be able to see anymore…the doctor said some of the flames reached your eyes and burnt them badly enough that they…" Mom broke off with tortured sobs.

Apparently, the nurse was motioned to go ahead and tell me. "The burns on your skin, however, we are still treating. How is your skin feeling?"

Through a sore throat, I muttered, "It hurts, a lot. Like someone is slowly cooking me."

"Can you tell me, on a scale of one to ten, what the pain is? Ten is the worst ever."

I didn't even have to think about it. "7."

She made a small noise, and moved closer, tinkering with something on my left. After a few moments, I felt the pain numbing.

A deep breath was exhaled, and I slipped away into the black place that felt so warm, and comfortable.

* * *

I woke, and immediately tried to open my eyes. It took me a few seconds to realize that I wouldn't be able to see again. Right now, it seemed like an alien concept.

My skin felt like someone was taking a blowtorch to it, and my eyes were searing hot, cooking in their sockets.

Clicking was coming from the corner, and I smiled slightly. Jace.

I heard Jace's voice speak from the corner of my room. "You're awake?"

I nodded in response, and fell silent. He moved (I think he stood) and his voice came again, with the clicking stopped. "The parents'll want to know you're awake."

My right hand lifted, and I spoke rapidly. "No, don't – I think Mom nearly crushed my hand the last time."

He chuckled, and I heard him move again, and the clicking started up again. "So. How are you feeling?"

"You must be a dumbass if you have to ask me that."

Another chuckle. "Thought I'd throw it out there; see if you were still you."

"I'm wishing right now that I wasn't, actually."

"I could see that. I'd be doing the same thing." His voice was a lot more serious.

I wondered if he believed the gas-leak story. I wondered if I was going crazy, and had dreamed up the robots fighting in the middle of the café, and that blue fluid leaking over me.

"Jace…It wasn't a gas leak." I spoke softly, but I knew he heard me due to the stopped breathing.

"What was it then?" His voice was still serious, and I knew that he believed what I was telling him.

"Robots. Giant, silver robots with flashy guns and massive silver blades. One had wheels for feet, Jace."

My right hand came up and touched the bandages covering my eyes, and a flare of heat sliced at my eyes. The clicking had stopped again.

"I was going to Rylie, the lady who always works on Wednesday, when one of them was injured, or hit with some sort of fluid weapon, and it all fell on me, in my eyes and on my skin. It burned like acid," I mused, voice soft and barely discernible from the room. I could tell Jace was listening intently though from the way he hadn't made any noise at all.

With Jace, no noise meant that he was really listening to what you were telling him. He was such a techno-freak, always clicking or tapping away at something.

The nurse came in again – I knew it was her due to the loud noise she made in shutting the door. My parents had been carefully shutting the door, and tiptoeing around like I was made of glass. The clicking started up again.

"I'm here to change your bandages. How are you feeling, Alex?"

I sighed; my throat felt a little less raw now. I must have been out for another few days.

"A little better, but my skin is still burning, and my eyes feel like two hot pokers."

I could almost hear her frown. "Hmmm. The pain meds you're on should be numbing the pain entirely…" The tapping of the keys started to slow.

She came over, asked me if it was alright to touch the bandages, and when I nodded, she started to unwind the ones on my right arm.

Clucking slightly, she hissed. "These look very painful, and quite unusual for burns."

"How does it look?"

Jace answered, cutting the nurse off. "It looks like you got into a fight with a blowtorch, 'Lex."

I winced, easily visualizing that lovely picture. "So…No Ms. United States for me, huh?"

Jace snorted. "Like you'd've ever won that one in the first place." His voice was closer when he spoke again, and a hint of curiosity and concern laced his speech. "Hey…why are they blue in the centers?"

"The doctors are working to figure out what they can do to help heal it faster – they haven't seen burns like this before."

I swallowed. Fantastic. So, I was the first one to have robots spill their juice on me, or whatever.

Wrapping my arm in fresh bandages, the nurse swiftly did the same to my left, and my face. When she lifted the bandages off my eyes, she spoke to my softly.

"Alex, can you try to open them a little bit? If it hurts too much, let me know, alright?"

I nodded, and tried to open my eyes slightly, but it was still black. The last shred of hope, dreaming that I couldn't see only because they had covered my eyes with the bandages disappeared.

I was blind. And it wasn't a dream at all. My stomach seemed to drop into the bed.

* * *

My parents were frantic with worry. They didn't say as much – to me, at least – but I could tell when they started yelling outside my room, Mom shrieking at the doctors to _do something_, anything, if it meant I wouldn't die.

Die? Hmmm, that seemed quite possible right now. Every part of me hurt, it burned and smoldered like someone had forgotten to shut off the barbeque and I was leaning over it.

Death seemed quite inevitable at this point. What was the point of living if I was blind, and in excruciating pain for every moment that I wasn't on pain-killers?

About those. They had been getting less and less effective lately. I wasn't sure if it was due to the pain increasing by that much, or if my body was simply metabolizing them. Which should have been impossible, which is what a nurse kindly informed me when I told her the morphine wasn't working at all.

Something about how my brain's signals to interpret the morphine as 'all's fine and dandy, no pain here' were screwed up. So then they put me on something else, to 'enhance the effect of the morphine'. That only helped for a few hours, and after that it burned again. I didn't tell them until it was so bad I could barely breath.

A doctor had come in, and told me that the vitreous humor, basically the clear jelly in the middle of my eyes had solidified, and was now opaque. I wasn't sure how that was possible, but the doctor was insistent. Jace told me that my pupil was white. I bet my eyes looked freaky right now – reddened sclera due to irritation/whatever had fallen in my eyes, brown irises, and white pupils. Oh, and don't forget the creepy burns too.

I was a walking (well, not yet) freak-show.

He had also asked Jace to leave the room, and told me that they weren't able to find a cure for the burns, and that right now they were researching as fast as they could, blah blah blah, I might die. At that, I had sort of perked up. Death was pretty permanent after all.

After some more platitudes about letting my parents know about different burn specialists, and how they were working as fast as possible to look into treatments, he left, and Jace came back in. He parked himself in the corner chair, and the clicking started up again. After a while, the door slid open again.

Mom tentatively came into my room, saying, "Hey love, it's Mom."

As if I couldn't tell her nervous steps from the nurses and doctor's purposeful strides, or Jace's lazy ones.

"Hi Mom," I said softly.

"I brought you some of that pasta you love so much, from the pizza place down the street from your school."

The mere thought of food made my stomach clench and nausea sweep through me. I didn't really want to hurt Mom's feelings, and I knew this was really hard on all of us, but I just couldn't muster up the strength to give a shit.

"I'm not hungry," I murmured, turning my head to the side.

Jace's ever-present clicking of the keys stopped, and I could tell he was annoyed with me. _Well, screw him._

Mom faltered a little, and then mustered her strength. "I'll put it in the fridge then, and if you want it, Jace can heat it up for you."

I heard her opening the fridge, placing something inside, and then sitting down on the chair beside my bed. A warm hand gripped my right hand.

I merely lay there, thinking about nothing, not really wanting anything. The pain inside me grew, stronger and stronger, until it felt like I would explode from it, merely burst into little blue-tinted scraps of flesh and blood, eyeballs bursting apart.

The nurse came in then, and checked my IV drip. She asked me a few questions, but I didn't answer.

Mom moved her grip on my hand, and a wave of pain raced through me, searing and torching my arm. I cried out, and the nurse startled a little, as did Mom. Mom dropped my fingers, and I could almost feel the guilt oozing off of her as she realized she had caused me pain.

I felt sort of guilty – it wasn't just Mom, it was my whole body, rebelling on me.

After a little bit, maybe it was the next morning, maybe it was the late evening, a doctor came in. He sounded quite young from what I could hear, but maybe I was mistaken.

"I'm Doctor Ren, I'm here to take more pictures of the burns, and of your eyes, Alex."

I nodded once at him, and heard the click of the shutter some seconds later. He asked me to move my arms, and I could only move my right one. I winced a little, and he immediately stopped.

Jace spoke up once he was gone. "The parents have decided to get you a specialist. You're starting to scare them, 'Lex."

I shrugged. It didn't really matter to me, what they thought. I was dying,

He spoke again. "I've been looking into those robots you said you saw, and so far, the best footage is this one site called therealeffingdeal dot com only some of the things are totally photoshopped. Some seems pretty legit though."

"Therealeffingdeal? What are they, six?" I noted sarcastically.

"I know, but, information's information. And the faster I can get to the bottom of this, the better." He started playing one of the clips, and a particular sound caught my ear. The _schick_ of metal blades sliding out, and the smash of weapons.

I froze, body clenching tightly as my eyes ached suddenly, fiercely, a throwback to what I had gone through a week ago.

Jace must have noticed, as the noise cut off suddenly. "Hey, you want me call the nurse in here?"

I shook my head, eyes squeezed closed tightly. "No, I'm fine."

He sighed. "You know…the parents are taking this really hard. And you aren't helping, 'Lex, they just want to help you."

With pain still shooting through my head, I snapped at him. "Yeah, well, some help they are when I'm dying."

Jace's voice was pissed when he spoke again. 'You aren't going to die, 'Lex, stop being so dramatic."

He was wrong. I could almost _feel_ the poison corroding my body, weakening my muscles, burning my skin off slowly.

I didn't answer. Let him think what he will, but I knew the truth.

* * *

Later on, Doctor Rec came back in, and asked me if I wanted my family present when he told me all they had figured out about the burns and my eyes.

I shrugged. If they weren't in here, then it would just be more hassle later. "Sure."

Mom came in, and so did Dad.

Doctor Ren began. "We have looked into the bloodwork, and the biochemistry of the burns, and, frankly, they do not look promising. The blood is being corroded by the foreign substance, and we have no idea yet what Alex had been in contact with to contract such an agent. The best case scenario is, obviously, one where we are able to figure out what the agent is, reverse it, and you'll be able to walk out of here on your own power.

"Worst case scenario…well, we are looking at intensive hospital care, and the distinct possibility that she may not be able to fight it off."

My mother made a choked noise, and I heard some movement. Dad was probably wrapping an arm around her consolingly.

Jace's keyboard was clicking at a ferocious pace.

I spoke, and everyone was intently listening. "So I may die from this?"

I clenched one fist in the pause that followed, almost welcoming the angry pain that flowed up my arm from the movement.

There was a pause from the doctor, and it was as if everyone was holding their breath.

"At this point, it is a possibility, but we will do everything in our power to prevent that from happening. We have specialists around the globe working on it as we speak, and they might be able to find an antidote."

Mom spoke next. "Keep faith, Alex, being positive helps your body recover."

I felt like snorting. Seriously. It wasn't like they'd discover a miracle cure. Pain flared along my eyes from clenching them.

Damn robots.

* * *

The door burst open again, and I listened a little to see who it could be.

"You look terrible."

I smiled a little; Liam always was honest. "Why thank you. I've heard blue is in this year." A pause. "Joking, Liam."

"Oh. Of course. I brought the homework you missed in your vacation in the hospital."

"Thanks." It came out dull. I didn't really care.

I could tell from the silence that Liam was analysing me. Trying to figure out why I wasn't responding like I normally would. After a little bit, he spoke again, voice a little less loud.

"I also brought you your iPod. It was cluttering up my room."

"Thanks."

He placed it on the shelf beside my bed, and then was silent.

I was too. There wasn't a lot to say, and to be honest, I didn't give a damn.

The pain flared in my arms again, making me clench the muscles tightly in an effort to relieve the pressure. It didn't work.

* * *

"_Prime, an interesting case has come to my attention. A female in Reno's General Hospital is suffering from what appears to be burns, but… I'm sending the pictures to you now."_

"_Hmmm, yes I can see why this would be worth looking into. These 'burns' are highly indicative of a severe reaction with Energon."_

"_Exactly what I thought. Without the antidote, she'll die within a few earth days. And this isn't even the worst of it."_

A small pause._ "Yes, I see what you mean. This human…she will have a difficult life now."_

"_I agree. But it is also up to her what she does with it."_

"_Very well – Ratchet, make sure this human doesn't die due to contact with one of us. And see what she remembers from the incident. Take Sideswipe with you." _


	2. Luctus

**Chapter 2: Luctus**

(Latin_: mourning, grief, sorrow_)

* * *

AN: Thanks for all the fantastic reviews! Keep 'em up!

* * *

I could hear the doctors, or maybe the nurses, outside my room. They must have thought I couldn't hear them, but my ears had been improving lately.

"The burns are spreading. No matter what topical agent we use to help with infection, they continue to spread. At this rate, she won't make it another week."

"Poor girl. She's been through so much already, and if she makes it through this, she'll have a lot of learning to do what with her loss of vision."

"Well, try to keep those wounds clean; as sterile as possible. Make sure the family knows not to touch them; we don't know if they are communicable to the others yet. Other than that, her vitals are fine, she's relatively calm and has a lot of support. Just try to keep her comfortable."

I stirred slightly once the conversation in the hall died off. I could hear two sets of breathing in the room, apart from mine.

"You are awake after an obscenely long time, Alexandra."

I smiled a little bit. Liam hadn't left since this morning when I had spoken to him last when he brought me fried potato wedges from my favorite street café. He had said it was because he wanted them, and I had 'contaminated' them, but really, he hated them. He only bought them because I liked them, and had definitely wanted them.

It was the first time I'd felt like eating, and they had been absolutely delicious. Nearly dripping in grease (which Liam hated), green onion chunks, bacon slivers, cheese melted on top, as well as sour cream and guacamole (which Liam was allergic to).

I even managed to keep them all down, and after eating those, I'd been out like a light.

"Jeez, 'Lex, you slept for ten hours there. Snorin' like a bear."

Liam's puzzled tone cut in. "Alexandra did not sound like a bear."

"Aw, thanks, Liam." A warm glow started in my chest – he was such a nice-

"She was more comparable to a chainsaw."

"Thanks Liam." Heavy on the sarcasm, low on sweetness. What a jackass.

Jace spoke up. "You had crap music on your iPod, so I downloaded a whole bunch of good stuff."

Liam snorted. "His idea of 'good stuff' is akin to a cat screeching."

"You wouldn't know good if it bit you in the ass, pretty boy."

"My music does not need to be violent to show its superiority."

"Your 'music' is like a canker sore."

"Your pathetic comparisons only show your inferior intellect."

Oh yes, there was the rivalry I was expecting. Jace had never liked Liam, and it was definitely mutual. Liam was the master of subtle digs at Jace, although that last comment hadn't been very subtle at all. They'd probably been going at it the whole time I'd been asleep.

If I didn't step in here, Jace would strangle Liam with the laptop cord pretty soon. "Where are Mom and Dad?"

"The 'rents are gone; it's shift change for the nurses for the evening."

If I was able to see, I would have been able to tell that for myself. So much had changed since the robot accident. If I was honest with myself, I barely believed that it happened. It seemed so ludicrous. Robots, flying through the wall to tussle on the floor, killing two innocent bystanders, and wounding another (me).

"Oh."

"Your mother told me to inform you that a specialist will be available tomorrow, and will be by to see you."

I nodded a little, only a small portion of me paying attention.

I opened my eyes to stare at the ceiling. A little piece of me wanted to see the partitioned ceiling that I knew was there from previous hospital visits. No luck.

A small piece of me was shattered. A piece shattered each time I tried to see.

"Do you require anything in the way of sustenance?"

I shook my head. "No, but thanks, Liam."

"Alexandra." His voice was reproachful. "You have been eating out of an IV for days now; you require real food, not just greasy potato wedges."

I shrugged. "I don't feel hungry though."

"You need to eat at some point, 'Lex."

"Preferably sooner instead of later."

I ignored him. I really wasn't all that hungry yet. My right hand travelled over my left, noting the hot spots where the burns were, but not feeling the motion in my left arm. My useless left arm.

Yet it was really more than I deserved, as I wasn't dead. Right now, it seemed like a cruel joke. Why did I live? Why did I not die with the old lady, with Rylie? What had I done to make it through?

Jace started tapping keys on his laptop again, and I heard Liam open a novel or a book, probably something intellectual or historical. He was such a nerd.

I lay back down, thinking about nothing in particular. Other than my desire to see if I could move around in this hospital. I needed a place to think, somewhere to muse by myself.

A few hours passed, with Liam and Jace eventually falling asleep, Jace's laptop completely quiet and his light snores echoing through the room.

I moved slowly, moving my legs to the side of the bed, not feeling an abundance of burns catching on the smooth hospital sheets.

There didn't seem to be any burns. But then again, I just might not be able to feel them.

Something tugged between my legs. I used my right hand to feel down there, and discovered a small tube. Of course – I had a catheter in. That would explain why I hadn't needed to go to the washroom yet. And the nurse had been emptying it every day, which had caused the slight tugging I had felt.

My questing fingers followed the tubing down to the side of the bed, where it was attached to the bed frame. I pulled it loose, and then moved my hand to my left side, feeling for the IV. Pain laced up my sides and arms as I moved, and I held in a groan. I didn't want to wake either of the sleeping guys.

I hooked the catheter bag on the IV stand, taking a moment to feel the stand down to where the ring would be to hook it on, and moved to sit my legs on the ground. It burned a path up me, and I hissed lightly.

This was really stupid. I would probably hurt myself doing this. But I had to move, I needed to think, and pacing was my best way of thinking.

I gripped the pole tightly, clinging to it with my right hand.

Moving to stand up, I hissed lightly through my teeth again, squinting my eyes shut in pain. Clenching my fist around the pole, I wavered, nearly falling back down. It was really difficult to stay upright.

I took a step forwards, my foot moving forwards hesitantly to slide forwards a few inches on the cold floor. With every step, the catheter bag rubbed against my inner thighs, and felt very bizarre in my unmentionables. My toes tingled and my burns on my arms, stomach, and face ached.

It felt good. I took another small step forwards, and stubbed my toe on the bed. I nearly yelped, but managed to hold it in. What felt like tears were streaming down my cheeks.

I didn't have a free hand to check, but I could feel the warmth snaking down my cheeks. A few touched burns, and seared with the salt in the liquid.

Another step, carefully questing with my toes to find a safe place to step. I moved along the side of the bed, side brushing it with every step.

I hit the end of the bed, carefully avoided another stubbed toe, and took a few small steps towards where I always heard the door open. After almost clattering into a table of some sort, I made it to the wall. Running my body against it, I managed to find the door.

Letting go of my IV pole for just a moment, I opened the door, and grabbed the pole again.

As I made it into the hall, a noise made me freeze. The sound of purposeful footsteps down the hall continued as I leaned against the wall, trying to look like I was just lounging, out for a really early morning stroll with my IV pole.

"What are you doing out?"

I tried to look a little startled, but her sharp intake of breath made it seem like I failed. She probably hadn't seen my eyes before, or the burns.

"Um, I just needed some air."

The nurse hummed in agreement, and then spoke again, voice carefully modulated. "If you need anything, just call me, alright?"

I nodded, knowing she could see it.

The purposeful footstep returned, fading away.

I leaned against the wall for a few moments longer, and breathed deeply, before sliding down to sit on the floor, linoleum cold against my bottom. Another pair of steps; purposeful and firm against the floor sounded in my ears.

"You should be sleeping, Alexandra." A warm glow started in my chest, ending in a small smile on my lips. I wiped it off and stared upwards at the owner of the voice.

"Hey, Liam. You should be asleep at home, moron."

"Your vocabulary does not increase when the sun has gone down, apparently." He sat down beside me, close enough that I could feel his sleeve against my arm if I moved slightly over. I closed my eyes, and replied to his comment.

"Oi, leave the crap for Jace, would ya?"

I felt him shrug against me. "I cannot guarantee anything, Alexandra. Although I doubt your brother would enjoy me leaving my feces for him."

A tiny smile curled my lips. "Of course not. That's what I love about you – you never change, Liam." My voice was softer in the last part of the sentence. I wasn't sure why I said that. It was stupid. He liked Becky, and I was nothing like that.

Maybe it was the drugs I was on – causing me to go all loopy and mushy. Bleh.

"At times, I feel a certain fondness for you as well. Not when you are being obstinate, which appears to be your default setting."

A miniscule hiccup of laughter. "Thanks Liam. What would I do without you?"

"Sit outside the bathroom in the hall and angst, I imagine."

"And you wonder why Babe doesn't give you the time of day, you charmer."

This was good. I liked this – talking with him in the middle of the night, making fun of each other and generally having a good time. Perhaps that was part of the reason he was my friend – he knew that for the most part, insults just bounced off my thick skin. The fact that he didn't really mean them as insults helped, but random people who didn't know Liam assumed that he was being a jerk all the time.

Which he wasn't. He was just bad with social interactions…sometimes. Other times, he was a regular schmooze. Usually when school or future opportunities were available.

"'_Babe_,' as you so charmingly dubbed her, has never asked for the time of day, and as thus, it would be wholly useless to offer it to her. Furthermore, she usually is wearing a watch, so asking me the time would be completely redundant."

"Liam. You're ranting again, you spaz."

He huffed slightly, and I could hear him adjust his glasses. "I was not ranting; merely commenting on your inappropriate statement, and rectifying it."

"Sure, sure."

We fell silent, but it was comfortable, easy. Safe.

"I really appreciate you being here, Liam." I breathed out heavily. "This frigging _sucks_, so much. Even if I get out of here, I'm still going to be blind, never able to see again, never able to…" I paused, trying to catch my breath, aware that I was starting to cry, but unable to help it. I had been holding it in this whole time, trying not to annoy anyone. Up until now, it hadn't really sunk in.

I wiped my face furiously with my right hand, scrubbing at my burning eyes. Well, I guess my tear ducts were intact – I could let the nurses know that they were able to excrete tears.

Liam's hand rubbed my back as I buried my face in my knees.

"I'm so sorry, Liam, but…I can't hold it in any longer…" My voice cracked, and the tears started, soon degrading into heavy sobs, filled with anger, depression and loathing. I _hated_ being blind, not knowing what was going on, not knowing what color the sky was, what time it was, who was in the room.

I felt Liam speak, barely able to hear him through my choked sobs. "Crying is a natural response to a traumatic event. You need this." His warm hand rubbed my back lightly, managing to find a non-burnt patch of skin.

I started to cry even more strongly, sobs wrenching themselves out of my chest as I let all the emotions out, wrapping my arms around my knees tightly. Liam's other hand wrapped around my knees, and he picked me up, placing me against his chest.

His hand continued to rub my back as I leaned against his chest, tears pouring out.

Why did this happen to me? What had I done to piss off some higher power? My life was never going to be the same. My dream of being a lawyer was gone, smashed to smithereens. I couldn't see – I was useless, a wretched, scrapped piece of humanity Mother Nature hadn't quite done in yet.

Anger flowed hot and heavy in me, fists clenching tight. I didn't want this. This wasn't fair. I wanted my old life back, no matter what I had to give up. I wanted it back – being able to see sunsets and sunrises, looking at a priceless piece of art, watching a video and laughing at the horrible effects, admiring Liam's good looks, making supper, for heaven's sakes.

I wanted it back, and I wished that this had never happened.

I cried, soaking Liam's shirt. He sat there the whole time with me while I screamed into his chest, almost beating on him with my fists in my anger. Liam sat through it all, my bedraggled, scarred form curled up to his, rubbing my back and providing non-verbal support.

After a while, there were no more tears. I was all cried out. I huddled against his chest, weak and spent and limp like an over-cooked spaghetti noodle.

He rubbed my back again, and then spoke. "Are you feeling a little better?"

I nodded, and then groaned. "Geez, you shouldn't have had to see that. I pretty much fell to pieces on you there…"

He shrugged, and I felt it through my whole body. "You needed it."

My heart clenched a little. He was such a great guy – I didn't deserve him. I really didn't. He was pretty much perfect, and now I was blind, unable to take care of myself, not even able to grieve by myself without hauling someone else along for the pity party.

"The look on your face indicates you are thinking something not especially intelligent."

I choked out a small laugh-sob mix, and smiled bitterly. "Not really, just thinking about the inevitable and the truth."

"Heavy concepts for your brain at such a late hour."

"Liam, that would have been…mostly okay…except for the 'for your brain.'"

"You are correct – it would have been more appropriate in the context of your brother…I lied. Your brother is not capable of producing such thoughts."

"Hey, be nice."

His voice was a little puzzled. "I thought I was. I had some less complimentary thoughts in mind."

I was sure he had. I wiped my eyes a last time, and coughed once to clear my throat. It was time to get out of his lap, as much as I wanted to stay there, sheltered from the world in his strong arms.

I moved out of his lap, and stood with the help of Liam and the wall. He lightly touched my back to help me up. I was good now, but I could easily see a few more crying sessions in my near future.

Liam rubbed my back again, and his fingers idly traced a small spot on my upper back, right above my shoulder blade.

A wave of exhaustion washed through me, and it took an effort to focus on his words, spoken in that honeyed tone.

"Alexandra, were you aware that a symbol is burnt into your shoulder?"

I blinked, the action pure reflex to the odd statement.

"A symbol? What do you mean?"

He grabbed my right hand carefully, and flipped it over so that he could trace on the palm. "I will demonstrate."

As he traced, a vague image arose in my mind from the sensations on my palm. An odd line, a few squiggles, some circular movements, and a few more lines.

"Huh. Weird. Maybe the robot branded me accidentally?" As I said it, I froze. Liam didn't know it was robots. He thought it was a gas-line accident.

I knew I was busted when his hand tightened around my palm. I tried to fix it, but I was never very good at spontaneous lies.

"I mean, uh, the gas-line…had a piece in it that fell and torched my skin?"

"You stated that the 'robot' branded you accidentally? Which robot would this be in reference to? Is that why your burns are so unusual looking, and warm? A robot was the one to do this?"

"No, no, Liam…I meant to say gas-line break…It was a typo of the mouth. Really. Um…I should probably go back to bed…"

I tried to pull my hand out of his grip, but it was impossible. I just knew that the stubborn look had invaded his dark eyes, and his mouth was probably tight, jaw jutting out in determination. Damn, he was sexy when determined to get his own way.

Good thing I couldn't see his face, or I'd be a goner.

"A robot was the cause of the café's explosion. The pictures did not indicate a gas-line explosion, and this fits much better. I assume there was more than one robot? The pictures, now viewed with this information, make a good deal more sense."

Well. There went the top-secret information. I wasn't even going to ask how he had seen the pictures of the site. Liam had his ways, and they were much too technical and…Liam-esque for the mere mortal (me) to understand.

Hopefully I hadn't put Liam in danger too with my careless slip. I would literally kill if something happened to Liam.

I pulled my hand away, and started to move back towards my room, trying to go around him. His hand let go of mine, and I could tell that he was still musing away as to the rest of the story.

He was quick to grab me when I caught my toe on the IV and nearly face-planted into the floor, though.

Liam helped me into my room, careful where he touched me to lessen my pain. He was disturbingly quiet, still thinking about the robots. I knew that I needed to remain quiet, and that he would be working to figure out the rest as best as he could. Which, considering his rather high intelligence, would be disturbingly accurate.

I stretched in my bed, exhaustion washing over me again now that I was done crying all over Liam. I felt a lot better, if I was honest. Like I had gotten the anger and depression out of my system for now, and I felt a lot more ready to cope with this. For now.

* * *

Mom came into my room around noon. "Alex, we've brought a specialist to look at those burns of yours, sweetie."

I had woken up to Jace chowing down on something that smelled fantastic, and he had given me two slices of loaded pizza. It tasted fantastic, other than the mushrooms. I hated mushrooms.

Liam must be gone – he wouldn't have been able to stay silent when Jace was making noise and eating greasy pizza. Oh, yes, he'd be at school now.

Another little shot of happiness through me. He had stayed so late for me, proving through his actions that he thought me more important than school.

_Take that, pig._ Although, he might stay late for her too – get into her good books as it were. But he was already in mine; there was no gain for him. This was why I liked him so much. Actions instead of words. My type of guy.

Mom had come in later, and said that Dad would be by in a few hours for a little bit. Right now, he was really busy at work, as one of his staff had quit and he was looking for someone to hire as a replacement. So far, it wasn't really going well.

She kissed my forehead, and pushed my hair back, before letting me know that the specialist was waiting outside.

I shrugged, the pain chewing on my arms, back and face. It wasn't like he'd have the miracle cure for me. Even as I thought that, a tiny sliver of hope speared through me, making me wish for the impossible; that he would be able to fix my arm, my eyes, and my skin. Make like it never happened, as it were. Other than the two people dead.

I knew I was wishing for the impossible though.

A deep voice spoke, making me jump. He had been completely silent entering the room – I hadn't heard a thing. "I'm Doctor Ratch, I'm here to look at those burns and your eyes."

Jace was in the corner of the room again; lately he'd been ensconced there, clicking away when I woke, and clicking until I fell asleep. The clicking had continued as the doctor came in, and a few seconds later, he clattered the keys noisily, stopping entirely.

I shrugged again, and then winced heavily; the movement had hurt. "Whatever." I felt Mom's cool fingers take my left arm. Which was pretty much pointless – it wasn't like I could squeeze back with that hand.

This doctor was really quiet when he moved – he was almost silent. I felt something at my arm move, then a hand touched my forehead, moving down to my eyes.

"Alexandra, can you open your eyes for me?"

I complied, staring sightlessly upwards. He asked me to move my eyes to the sides, to see if the muscles were still working on the eyes. I moved them, not seeing anything. He made a funny noise, like a growl, and I could hear Mom's breathing.

"So…Doctor Ratch, where did you go to school?" That was Jace as the clicking started up again. Huh. His voice sounded slightly suspicious. I wondered why.

"I went to school in Texas, in the Baylor College of Medicine. I graduated quite a few years ago."

Jace didn't say anything, merely continued his tapping on the keys.

The doctor took quite a few pictures of my eyes, and then moved on to my useless left arm, which, annoyingly enough, could still feel pain. The other doctor, Doctor Ren, had told me that there was some metal lodged through the nerves to my hand and arm, and had severed most of them. When it had burned its way into my shoulder, it had twisted due to the way I fell, and now would be a very complicated surgery to remove. It had lodged just under the second rib bone, on the left side. Dangerously close to major arteries and veins, as well as lung tissue and heart had also told me that even if it was removed, the chances of me being able to use my arm again were slim. For now, I had elected to leave it in.

It wasn't really hurting anything – I just wouldn't be playing any intense sports involving tackling again. Which, considering I was freakin' blind, was probably a good thing.

He took some pictures of my right arm, face, back and left arm as well, presumably taking some more pictures of the burns. The nurses had put some cream or something on the burns, but they still ached.

"Hmmm…I might have seen something like this, years and years ago. Alexandra, I'm going to take some swabs of these, as well as some blood for tests, is that alright with you?"

At his first sentence, Mom's hand twitched heavily in mine, and I could hear her breathing increase.

She spoke in a whisper, a tiny thread of hope in her tone. "Did…did the other case you were on…get better?"

"Yes, I do believe so. I do have to run some tests to check and see if it is the same thing, though."

Mom's grip on my hand intensified, and I could almost taste her excitement.

I nodded, barely flinching when he wrapped the rubber band around my right arm, and swabbed the inner elbow with the alcohol wipe. The strong smell, as well as the pain of the burns made me wince a little. Mom consolingly rubbed my arm a little, which made a wave of hurt race up my arm.

"Needle in three…two…one."

When the needle went in, I almost jumped out of the bed. It was so sensitive there that I felt like someone had jabbed another piece of metal into my arm. Through sheer will I held my arm still.

After a few more seconds, he pulled it out, and some noises occurred beside the bed, before he spoke again.

"Now the swabs of the burns. Which arm would you prefer?"

I huffed. "It doesn't really matter – both hurt, both are burnt."

Mom patted my hand, trying to console me.

He wiped the cream off of an area on my right arm, in the middle of the top of the forearm, cleaning the area carefully, before I felt the pressure of a swab in the area. There was more than one, but they didn't hurt much.

"All done." He had a really deep voice, I mused silently.

Mom stood, and moved around the bed to thank Doctor Ratch, a vein of hope in her voice. Ever since he had said he might have seen this before, I could tell she was excited and hopeful.

I felt a little better a few minutes later, oddly enough, and I was definitely in less pain. Weird, but nice.

When he was gone, about ten minutes after Mom had left as well, to get supper for herself, Jace's clicking stopped. "He didn't show up on my scanners."

I sighed, humoring my big brother's conspiracy theories, and rolled my head to face his.

"What do you mean…'he didn't show up?'"

The leather creaked as he moved, presumably moved forwards. "I mean, I had an infrared scanner on you, to check your burns and eyes to see if they had heated up more, and he _didn't show up_."

"Wait, you were watching me in infrared? Why?"

He didn't answer, merely muttering excitedly to himself. Weirdo. "Oi, stop muttering, and let me know why you were watching me in infrared, you freak."

Jace's voice was excited, yet more than a little nervous. "I'm going to figure this out, 'Lex, I promise."

I sighed a little, and moved my right arm, the burns searing my skin as I moved. "Figure out _what_, you strange techie?"

A pause. "'Lex, your burns are three degrees hotter than the rest of your body, and your eyes are at least five degrees warmer, which is insane. Your protein molecules must be denatured."

I tilted my head at him. "Denaturing proteins? Have you been reading the physiology textbook again?"

"Haha 'Lex, very funny. I was looking up those robots you told me about, and it is some serious hacking involved. You have to be careful here."

"So therealeffingdeal was a bunch of BS?" It figured.

"No…there was definitely something there, a flash of silver and wheels and that sound you reacted to last time."

I shrugged. "Photoshopping, and I heard it when you played it, and my memory substituted it. There is no way I was blinded and burned by robot juice."

"'Lex, the doctors have no idea what caused your burns, and they have never seen burns like that before, ever, other than possibly Doctor Ratch. I heard them talking in the staff room."

Scoffing, I said, "There is no way that all of them have seen every burn in the world – the gas must have been slightly corrosive or something. And Doctor Ratch said that his other case got better."

"Fire doesn't cause burns like this 'Lex, fire heals relatively quick. You've been here for a week, with no change. That isn't normal. "

"Slow-healing?" I offered obstinately.

I could almost _see_ Jace's raised eyebrow.

"Okay," I muttered. "That was lame."

He was silent, smug in his own victory.

"So, how long have you been checking me in infrared? Seriously, who does that? 'Oh, I'm just checking everyone out in infrared, no big deal, I'm no creeper.' Please."

He ignored my sarcasm. "Every few hours or so. Your burns have been getting hotter and hotter, and so have your eyes."

I grimaced. "Perfect. After a few more days, I'll be finished slow-roasting. And you are so paranoid, you techno-junkie."

"I am proud to be a techie, and don't _say_ that, 'Lex, you'll make it through this fine."

A loud snort came from me. "As if. Don't tell me lies that it is all going to be fine, Jace, I know bull when I see it." I paused for a moment. "Or, smell it."

"You need to have faith in yourself, and the doctors, 'Lex. They're doing the best they can." There was no clicking of the laptop keys, so I knew that he was listening intently.

I opened my eyes, staring at the ceiling. "Jace. Be serious. Even if I make it through this, with the doctors discovering some miracle cure, or my body suddenly being able to metabolize this, I think you and I both know it is a far shot from being all hunky-dorey."

"Alexandra. You _will_ make it through this. Yes, your life might change, but you made it out of that café _alive_. That counts."

"Sometimes I wonder why. Why did I make it; why did Rylie and the old lady not; why did I have to make it only to slowly die in pain?" My voice was quiet, yet crystal clear and loud in the silent room.

Jace's voice was quiet, determined and strong. "You'll make it, 'Lex, you're one of the strongest girls I know."

I didn't have such faith in myself.

"The doctors said they found another mark on your back."

Ah yes, my back. It felt like the skin had melted off in places. It wouldn't be surprising if there were a whole bunch more spots on my arms too.

I heard heavy footsteps outside the door. The door opened firmly. I was starting to be able to differentiate between who was coming in just by the door.

This sounded very authoritarian, and confident.

"Alexandra Wells? I'm with the local police force, I'm Captain Lennox. Can I speak privately to you for a minute?"

After a few seconds, I heard Mom leave the room, and usher Jace out with her. His feet were slow in leaving.

Warning bells were going off in my mind. Why was a police officer here to talk to me? Especially if it was a gas-line break?

No. This was about the robots, I was sure of it. Absolutely one hundred percent sure.

That settled my mind. I was not going to tell him anything. What if I was a national security risk for seeing those robots? What if I was hauled off to a cell somewhere? No way in hell. I was not going to prison for seeing freaking robots malfunctioning and killing people accidentally – or on purpose. Rylie had been sliced across the stomach after all.

Maybe I should tell him in case they were tracking these things across America. But he couldn't bring it up unless that was the case. Okay. If he told me, I would tell him. Fair is fair, right? If he didn't, I was not going to say a word about giant robots slicing up a small café.

Nope. Not going to talk.

He started out well, but then it went downhill. "What did you see that night?"

I shrugged, not wanting to go into detail on the 'cover story' when I didn't know much.

"I can't remember. One minute I was doing my social essay, and the next, boom, I wake up here. I can't remember anything, sorry."

"No, it's okay. Please try to remember, Ms. Wells, it's important."

I squinted, pretending to think hard about the 'gas-line break.' After a few seconds, I groaned, pressing my hand to my head. "I'm sorry; I really can't remember…Captain Lennox… I can't…" I panted a little, milking it for all it was worth.

"It's okay." He sounded slightly relieved. "If you remember anything, have someone dial this number and call, alright?"

I nodded, letting my hand drop to the bed in "exhaustion." "Why…is what I remember about a gas-line explosion important?" I was doing some digging on my own.

There was the slightest of pauses. "We need to know all we can for the incident report, and to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again."

"How would the police prevent it?" My voice was genuinely curious.

"That is why we are gathering all this data – to create the best plan of action for prevention. If you remember anything at all, even a sound or small thing you saw, it would be appreciated, so give me a call."

I nodded, and he gave me some words about being thankful for my time, and then he left. I flopped back in the bed, mentally drained and physically aching. It didn't feel like I had much longer; my fingers were starting to feel cold and tingly, and my toes were almost numb.

* * *

"_I can start the treatments whenever, Prime. I've already applied a light dose to the wounds on the skin, through a phototherapy session, and the initial dose to her blood to slow the reactions. The human needs the antidote injection as soon as possible – she's fading fast, and what I did only helps to stall it. She needs the last dose still to fully reverse the damage and to allow her body to accept what energon is left in her body. Her tissues are starting to necrotize and decay, especially in the burns. The energon is killing her. I will inject her tomorrow at 0900 human time."_

"_Very well Ratchet, keep an optic on her after the procedure. That is what Sideswipe is for, as she might recognize you."_

"_Prime! She's just a little human femme thing; surely it doesn't matter all that much if she offlines."_

"_It is due to you and Barricade that she is in this situation, and you will ensure that no other harm comes to her, Sideswipe."_

"_That slagging piece of scrap metal – I'll offline him next time I see him, the frag-."_

"_Sideswipe, watch the female."_

"_Fine, fine. I just don't see why you're so slagging concerned about her. Humans offline all the time, big deal. Ouch! Hatchet, you dented my helm!"_

"_She is an innocent, Sideswipe, and you will treat her as such. If Ratchet informs me that you caused her undue stress, I _will_ be speaking with you again. Prime out."_

"_You will listen to me, or I will weld your optics closed, sever your left arm and rain your aft with acid pellets. Understand? Ratchet out."_

"_Primus, what a pair of warped processors. All this fuss over a single human. Although...it could be fun..."_


	3. Sano

**Chapter 3: Sano**

(Latin: _to heal_)

* * *

AN: Eleven reviews for the last chapter? Keep it up, I'm loving it! (Not in a Mickey D's way... just, in general...) Ah yes, If anyone spots **any** **spelling mistakes, or grammar mistakes, **please, **let me know!**

* * *

I woke to an empty room, which was a real rarity. This was probably the first time that I had woken up and Jace wasn't in the room, clicking away at his laptop.

Someone knocked on the door, making my attention focus there. Was it that doctor who had been in yesterday, who had taken the photos? Mom had commented something about him coming back today…unless my sense of time was all screwy, which it most likely was, and it was like, midnight and this was just the nurse coming in to change my bandages.

Yeah, bandage changes at midnight. Just what everyone wants when they're trying to sleep.

My ears were definitely keener – those were Mom's distinctive footsteps.

I offered up a weak smile. "Hey, Mom."

It was sort of difficult knowing how to act around her – she was sort of prone to over-exaggerating and had a definite flair for dramatics which I had not inherited. Perhaps Jace had though – that guy was such a drama queen.

"Morning love, how'd you sleep?"

Oh, I guess it was morning after all. Great.

"Pretty good – I'm sort of hungry, actually…would it be possible for you to grab me a banana or some fruit or cereal or something?" My stomach let out a loud growl at the mention of food, and I could almost _see_ Mom beaming, immediately racing out of the room to go grab them, delighted at my asking for food.

I stared at the ceiling in silence when she was gone – she forgot to shut the door in her haste, so I could hear the nurses down the hall, their shoes loud on the linoleum. The person in the room next to mine didn't sound so good, and they seemed to be throwing up a lot. I empathized with them. I still felt like crap too.

Mom burst back into the room and proceeded to hand me the fruit carefully. I used my right hand to hold it; a banana.

I smiled slightly and held it back out to her. "Could you open it for me?"

Damn it, this sucked so much. Only one hand and no eyes, what could I possibly be good for now?

"Oh my, I didn't even think of that." Mom seemed a little embarrassed that she hadn't thought of it, and took the banana back, before placing it back in my right hand, fully peeled. "I'm sorry love, here."

"Thank you." I ate it slowly, savouring the taste of perfectly ripe fruit.

Once I was done, I sat forwards a little bit. "Mom, I want to get up, but…Can I get something to cover my eyes? Like, a bandana or glasses or something like that?"

I was insecure still – I mean, I hadn't thought myself especially gorgeous before, but now…I must be like a walking (yes, I'm walking now) freak-show. Creepy eyes, freaky burns and bandages all over, and limp left arm just does not equate to Ms. Universe.

Well, unless your audience is blind. And even then, I'm not going to win, because my voice is not amazing.

"Love, the doctor is going to be here at nine – you remember the doctor from yesterday? Doctor Ratch? He says that he's made a slight breakthrough, or so he thinks, and he wants to test it."

I shrugged. "Sure – can't be any worse than vegetating." And sure, Jace had this odd obsession with conspiracy theories, and his paranoia about the non-glowing doctor, but I got a good feeling from him, like he was more than he seemed. There was a weird feeling about him, a bizarre aura that I could nearly touch.

Mom lightly smacked my right hand – not hard enough to hurt, ordinarily, but with the bandages and burns, it stung quite a bit. I ignored the pain – it was nothing like what I had already gone through. "Alexandra, don't say that."

Mom was still pretty sensitive about the whole thing, and she definitely did not use humor to deal with scary situations.

"Okay, Mom, I won't. Can you get me the glasses or bandana or something now?"

I instantly regretted how snappishly that came out, and I could tell from Mom's hand, frozen holding my right hand, that she was hurt.

"Sorry. This…is a lot to deal with, and I'm being so selfish – don't worry about it."

Her hand resumed rubbing mine. "No, honey, I know this is difficult, but I just keep on forgetting how different life will be now…now that you…you…"

She couldn't even say the words. "At least the doc'll be able to fix me up, right? I feel so much better than I did, even yesterday."

Mom's hand hit a sensitive point on the back of my hand, and I winced, unable to internalize the pain in time. I didn't want to distress Mom even more, and this was such a form of comfort to her – to be able to touch me, and reassure herself that I was still breathing, still alive.

It had been that close.

So, I could handle a little pain so that she'd be reassured.

"Oh, honey, you don't have to be brave, I'm here for you."

I didn't answer.

Another knock came at the door a while later. I already knew it to be the doctor. Jace was going to be upset that he missed his next chance at scanning the doctor for infrared or whatever other spectrum he was going to try.

What a geek my brother was. Honestly.

"Good morning, Doctor," I mumbled, eyes still shut. It didn't really make a difference.

Mom stood up, and presumably shook hands with the man (which brought up an interesting point – not showing up in infrared, and yet I can feel his touch? Weird, but not like I can ask him about it).

"Good morning, Alexandra, Mrs. Wells."

Mom interjected. "Good morning, Doctor Ratch, thank you so much for coming here again."

"It was no bother – I only wish to help."

That sounded sort of strange. Really, what kind of doctor did things for purely altruistic motives? Or, anyone, for that matter? No one.

"How are you feeling, Alexandra?"

"Fantastic," I muttered. "And you?"

"Well enough. Now, I think I have an idea on what to try for those burns. I've cleared it with your mother, and this is perfectly safe, merely a different combination of medications to counteract the chemical you have on your skin. Unfortunately, it will do nothing for your eyes."

I shrugged. Skin healing sounded good to me at this point – anything to get out of the (slightly less) constant pain. And possibly back home, out of the hospital.

Doctor Ratch touched my right arm, quite carefully. He pulled the bandages off with deft fingers. It hurt, but not a lot. It felt like he dabbed a cool gel on the wounds, using some sort of tool, but I couldn't be sure.

He added a bandage on top, and then moved to the other side of the bed, to repeat the procedure on my left arm. Thankfully I couldn't feel anything from that arm.

Something from that arm made me wince – and then my eyes widened, even though I was blind. It was a reflex.

"Hey! I felt that!"

Mom gasped. "Alex! You…you can feel in that arm?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "Doctor Ratch! You're out of this world! You're amazing and awesome, even if you are a little weird…"

"Thank you, Alexandra, but I'm merely doing my job, as a medic..al professional."

"Regardless, you've made the burns feel a lot better."

"I'm glad." He sounded a little odd, but I didn't worry about it too much. Invisi-doc was the best.

Mom was chattering to him, and I could tell that she was excited and happy. I was too, but I was more interested in regaining my mobility and freedom, and getting out of this infernal bed permanently.

"Alexandra, I will be back tomorrow to see how your burns are handling the medication. In the mean time, I'll take a small blood sample," Invisi-doc stated.

I held out my right arm, but I heard him move around the bed to the left, and I felt him grip the arm – so nice to be able to feel from that arm again – and wrap the plastic around it. I felt the needle go in, and even though the skin felt very sensitive, I was able to ignore it and delight in the feeling of his hand on my arm. I could feel it! I could also feel the pain of the needle, but I was ignoring the pain in the euphoria of being able to feel the actual limb again instead of having a limp noodle for an arm.

Once he was done, he left the room, again stating that he was coming back tomorrow morning for another application of the cream-stuff he'd placed on my burns. The soothing feeling spread through my body, and for the first time since coming into the hospital, I was in no pain at all. My body drifted off to sleep peacefully, every muscle relaxed.

* * *

Jace came racing back in, nearly shaking me in his excitement. "Listen, 'Lex, listen to what I found. I did some creative searching, and wala! I found it!"

"Jace, what time is it?"

"Just after two."

I nodded and tried to fall back asleep, even though I tried to speak to Jace and not be rude.

"That's fantastic. What did you find?" I was sleepy, and my voice came out half garbled. I had been sleeping so well – no dreams about the killer robots, no running and fleeing, not even any pain. It had been delightful. I'd never take good sleep for granted ever again.

"Another video clip, but this one is much superior in graphics and sound."

"Did it come from another dinky internet site?" I was slowly becoming more alert, due to the fact that he seemed to be gearing up for a marathon speech, but listening to conspiracy theories was not how I was going to spend my day. Besides, it was safer for me if I just forgot all about what I had seen in that café – robots going on the fritz seemed like a dangerous subject, and the way they were covering it up made me think that it was government. Scratch that – of course it was government.

Giant robots weren't exactly the kid next door's science project gone awry. I vaguely wondered what time it was.

"'Lex." His voice was scolding, but you could hear the excitement waiting to bubble out. "It is not 'some dinky internet site,'" he quoted bitterly. "This is legitimate information, from a credible source!"

"Mhm." I wasn't impressed. As far as I was concerned, I could forget all about the weird robots unless I wanted to be hauled in by the government, and locked in a cell somewhere.

Since I was blind, they'd be able to place me in a locked room, and I wouldn't be able to find my way out. Heck, they could put me in the basement of some large complex, and I wouldn't be able to get out – I'd merely stumble around until someone found me and oh-so-kindly escorted me back to my cell.

Jace was still rather excited. "Listen to them, Lex, and let me know which one is closest to the sound you heard?

I nodded to appease the child trapped in my brother's body.

"Okay, here it is."

When he played it, it wasn't as bad as the first one he'd played. I was able to remain quite relaxed and loose in my bed. The sound was slightly different, a different tone or pitch being used.

He played the next one, and it was all I could do to not jump from the bed and run from the room. The noise was exactly the same. I winced, trying to sink into the bed. It was like a giant metal saw was going as fast as it could, and the _snick_ of blades sliding out, and the squeal of rubber wheels sliding on the linoleum. I could see it in my head again, and I cried out, right hand coming up to push at the invisible enemy, to protect me.

The noise stopped, and I took a hesitant breath, chest heaving and eyes streaming tears.

"Jace…please don't play that one, please…" I breathed out, right hand fisted in the thin hospital sheets.

He changed it to a different one, and this one was not even close to as bad. I tensed a little, but the blast of weapons, and the crunch of metal didn't seem as terrifying. Sure, I could tell it was still a legitimate robot, but it wasn't as psychologically scarring as that other one. The silver one.

He played a few more, and a few I was able to eliminate as hoaxes, false. One sounded like a little kid in a synthesizer. Not likely to be a robot. Sheesh. Then again, what did I know about robots other than the two I had seen duking it out in the café? Nothing at all. Other than two that sounded like a little kid made them, the rest sounded quite real. Enough to have me as a shaking mess in the bed, thankful for the catheter, otherwise there'd have been a stain on the bed. I was terrified of those robots.

They had killed two people, with as little as a slice of those blades.

After a few more, I was wound as tense as a coil, ready to explode and run away as fast as I could, just leaving the whole mess behind me, run and run and run until I was somewhere safe and quiet.

"Jace…" I choked out. "No more…please, for the love of…"

He must have seen I was about three seconds away from another meltdown, and immediately stopped.

"Sorry, 'Lex, I'm so sorry. You can hear them even though I have my headset on?"

It hadn't sounded like listening through a headset – it had sounded clear and crisp. My hearing had evidently gotten much better.

I shook. "Please, don't make me listen to that…"

He stood, and came over to the bed, patting my head like a dog. I grabbed his hand with my right one, and clung to it, letting all my fear and hate for the robots leech into his hand.

It took a while, but I didn't feel like cracking into little pieces now, so that was probably a good sign that I was alright now.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, I was startled because the door opened.

I knew instantly who it was due to Jace's reaction. A sullen quiet filled the room, and I smiled widely.

"Liam. How was class?"

"Adequate. The TA is more than sufficient in knowledge for the rest of the students." The fact that he was above the other students, and thus, the TA's knowledge was inadequate for him was left unstated, but known to all in the room. Thankfully Liam didn't say that – he was slowly learning, the socially deficient boy. But he was definitely learning a little – he'd come to see me again.

"TA?"

"He is from the neighbouring university. He is majoring in history, the fool."

"Liam!" I scolded. "Just because he's a history buff does not make him a fool. Sheesh. If the whole world was filled with people like you…it would be-"

Jace interjected. "-a shithole."

"Jace!" I scolded. For heaven's sakes, these two just had no manners at all. I felt like their mother, trying to shepherd them in the right direction in regards to social behaviour. And failing epically.

"Alexandra, I have brought the schoolwork you need to have completed before you go back. I have informed the teachers that I am willing to act as temporary teacher as well as liaison between you and the school. This way, you shall not fall into becoming like those who only play on their computers."

And there was the dig at Jace – it wasn't very good, and Liam didn't sound as sly as he normally would when making such a comment. Something was up with Liam.

"Not like I couldn't kick your ass on a computer, pretty boy."

"You are basing your blustering on the idea that you are superior to me in any aspect, which is illogical."

Okay, something was definitely up with Liam. He wasn't usually so much of an asshole, even to Jace.

I spoke up, before Jace could come up with something. "Liam, you brought my homework? How am I supposed to do it when I can't see?"

"You are a resourceful girl, I'm sure we can figure something out." And it was times when he said something like that, that I remembered why I liked him, asshole tendencies or not.

Jace snorted, and muttered something. I almost caught it, but I knew that Liam didn't because my hearing was a lot better.

A tiny smile crossed my face at the thought – I was superior to Liam in that aspect. The oddness of the comment caught my attention, and made me smile wider.

"Shall we begin with physics?"

I nodded, wondering how in the hell I was supposed to understand quantum physics when I couldn't even see. Sure, I could visualize, but for numbers and such, you sort of needed to see them, to keep them straight. Mental math had never been my thing.

Liam was surprisingly good as a teacher. I understood what he was teaching me quite easily, but it was difficult to conceptualize the different components of quarks and protons and who knew what else. Liam was surprisingly a good teacher – and I knew that from previous experiences. He'd taught me some chemistry stuff before, when I had gotten sick.

Needless to say, I had aced the test on that.

I frowned, thinking hard. In some ways, it was good to use my brain for inane things again, like school. After all, that was the world I was going back to. Some people said they had been abducted by aliens, or had seen them, but they continued on with their lives, albeit with interesting stories. I was not going to go crazy. I was blind, I accepted that, but I wasn't going to die, due to the doctor.

I needed to get on with life.

After an hour of physics, and math, we were finally moving on to chemistry. Jace had left the room a while ago, after making one too many snips at Liam's teaching, and I had lost my patience, snapping at him to get lost for a while. Now, my brain was fried, for the time being. I needed a small break, so I changed the subject.

"Speaking of chemistry; how's the Pig-watching?"

Silence. And then he continued to speak about chemistry. Which, with Liam wasn't really unusual, but the way he continued on with speaking about covalent bonds with a completely unaffected air was. Usually, he'd have choked a little, maybe stuttered once or twice, and his ears would be red.

I couldn't see his ears, but his voice was completely calm.

"Since water is polar…" My listening trailed off, and before I knew it, I was asleep.

* * *

The week continued in much the same manner. In the morning, Doctor Ratch would come in and inspect the burns and my eyes, and spread a jelly-like substance on them. Jace continued to monitor the temperature of my skin, and the invisibility of the doctor, and comment on it after the man was gone. Liam would come in after school, and teach me what I needed to know. I felt a lot better as the week progressed. Soon, the nurses took out the damned catheter, only leaving in the IV. I was eating solid foods, three meals a day, and not suffering any odd reactions from the medications. About once a day, my head would throb, for only a few moments, but it was so sharp it would reduce me to a curled ball on the bed. I could still feel from my left arm, but movement evaded me.

I was also meeting with a psychologist to see if I had been traumatized overly much. After a month of dealing with it, I was feeling quite well now, and the lady's comments only helped. She was really friendly, and understanding.

Liam had been sort of acting strange – quiet and withdrawn, not reacting as strongly to Jace's taunts. And when he had, it had been in a very abrupt, rude manner. Liam had a tendency to respond like this to people he truly despised, but I had never thought he actually hated my brother. Sure, dislike, and sometimes annoyed, but I had thought that under it all, they had a grudging respect for each other.

Jace was still working on his conspiracy, robot theory. I was sorry I had told him about the robots at all – he was completely obsessed with them. Late at night, I'd wake because he was playing sound clips of their noises, and I would wake up scared to death, sweating and shaking. He wouldn't notice, intent on his screen.

At one point, I commented that the robots needed a better camera jammer or something, because a lot of them seemed to get caught on camera. I wondered idly, only in my head, if the silver one was part of a line of robots, or if there was a whole bunch of them, doing odd jobs across the globe, or if our country's level of warfare had improved enough to be using giant robots suits, like in some anime shows. Jace commented that they seemed to be hiding. Other than that, he didn't tell me what he was working on, only that he was on the verge of a huge breakthrough.

I'd heard that from him before, about whatever techie-programming he was working on at the time.

It was Friday when Doctor Ratch announced to me that I was going home. I cried.

No more hospital…It was like a dream come true – I actually hadn't thought that I'd be _ever_ coming out of the hospital on my own power, or even alive.

I choked out a garbled 'thank you,' and broke down crying.

* * *

"_Ratchet here. I finished treatment on the girl, and she is now cleared to go home."_

"_Very good, Sideswipe, check out her house and make sure you follow her for a few days to ensure her continued safety from Decepticons."_

"_Okay, Prime, but I want to do some fighting when I get out of recon."_

"_We shall see. For now, focus your energies on watching over Alexandra Wells."_

"_Sure, sure. Could be fun… Sideswipe out."_

* * *

Now, I was in the car, waiting to go home. The trip seemed really long, but I was so eager to get home, and sleep in my own bed, that it was unbelievable.

Rubbing my right hand over my left, I felt the scars caused by the burns. They still hurt a little, but not enough to stop me from going home. Dad was driving the car, and Mom was in the passenger seat. Jace had driven his own car.

I was temporarily nonplussed. I was never, ever, going to ever drive my car ever again. The thought hit something inside me, and I swallowed heavily. Sure, I was alive, but…It was such a heavy cost. I supposed I should be grateful, but it seemed so unfair. That I had to deal with this, for the rest of my life. I was only seventeen, I wasn't old enough for this.

When the car stopped, I pulled open my door, unclicked the seatbelt, and stepped out onto the ground. I shut the door, but kept my hand on the door, in case I fell.

Taking careful steps forwards, I moved my feet cautiously.

Mom came and stood at my side. I could tell that her hands were out, ready to catch me if I stumbled. I took another step, focussing intently on the step. A car engine rumbled past, and I caught my shoe on the edge of something. Collapsing forwards, Mom caught my shoulders, and helped me stand back up.

The car engine was really noisy, like he was revving the engine in an attempt for attention, and I could just imagine how it looked - it sounded expensive, so something fancy.

I rolled my eyes at the annoying driver of the fancy car. If he could see my eyes, he'd see how freaky they were, and run away. The car engine revved again, and then became quieter. Probably was scared by my eyes, the wuss.

I stumbled again, even with Mom's help, and had to bite my tongue to keep from shrieking my irritation to the world.

I smiled briefly for my Mom, a forced smile. It was forced, as I was trying to mask the frustration and irritation in my body at not being able to do the simplest of things. I was like a baby, worse, even, because I wasn't going to improve.

We made it into the house, and I let go of her hands, feeling my way through the maze of chairs, tables, and obstacles on the floor. I had never noticed how many shoes were in the entry, until I managed to trip over nearly all of them.

Mom tried to fuss over me, and help me out, but I waved her away with a sharply uttered "No, let me!"

I sounded like a toddler, and immediately apologized. "Sorry, but I need to do this on my own."

Mom took a step back, and I could just tell that the rest of my family was watching me mumble through the house, almost smashing my face on walls, little alcoves that we had in our house, and tripping on the stairs.

Taking a step upwards, I migrated through the house, definitely gaining more bruises in my exploration of the house. It was like I could see it in my mind, but I was relearning the whole place. I practiced for a few hours, becoming more comfortable and confident in what I was doing.

I was never going to run through the house, but I was okay in the small space.

Occasionally, I could feel someone watching me, but not making any noise. It was a little disconcerting, but it was probably just my family, trying to make sure that I was alright and not passed out due to smacking my head or something. They were letting me have my space, which I really appreciated after the whole hospital debacle. Nurses coming in every few hours, checking either my blood pressure, temperature, IV, how much I'd peed, whatever.

I was really grateful to my family for providing me with a little space.

Mom called me down to supper, but I wasn't hungry, so I let her know. She called up that she'd left me something in the fridge, and some sandwiches were in there too. I cleaned my room, piling everything on the floor on to the bed, and then trying to identify it, and place it in the correct place.

I knew when everyone went to bed, because I could hear all the noises my family made in getting ready for bed. Mom came up to my room. I could smell the juice when she opened the door – orange. And some other smell – sharp and slightly tangy, but delicious smelling. My stomach rumbled. I smiled a little.

"Guess I was hungry after all."

"I've brought you a barbeque chicken sandwich, some orange juice and some carrots."

"Thanks."

Mom gave me the plate, and placed the juice on my desk. I thanked her, and tentatively touched the sandwich on the plate. I took a hearty bite, and savoured the taste, stomach rumbling appreciatively at the food.

When I was done, I searched for the mug of juice carefully – I didn't want to spill it and have it all over my desk. The rest of my family was now in bed.

Ambitiously, I decided to take the plate and mug down to the kitchen, to place in the dishwasher. It would be slightly difficult since my left arm didn't move, but I was sure that I had the route memorized by now. If I fell down the stairs, I was sure my parents would hear it and come see if I was okay.

I moved down the stairs carefully, balancing the plate and cup. It teetered a few times, but I was able to balance it again.

I managed to make it through the now-clean entryway (Mom had been cleaning too), and touched the front door with my back. So far, so good.

I moved from the front door to where I thought the table was, and bashed my knee on the chair in my path. A small wince, but I held in my groan of pain.

It was probably around midnight, again, and I was making a trip down to the kitchen to place my dirty dishes in the washer, and possibly grab some fruit. My stomach was making noises again. It would have to be an apple or something simple to eat, because my left arm, while able to feel sensation, was not responsive to my commands for it to move.

I placed the dishes on the counter, and felt for the door to the washer, grinning when I found it quickly. Tugging it open, I stubbed my finger on the metal racks, and winced, then pulled it out, placing my cup upside down on it, and my plate on the lower level.

I closed the machine, and leaned against the counters, breathing deeply. Who knew this would be so much work?

Moving forwards again, I smacked my shin on a chair that someone hadn't tucked it, and winced.

Blindly stumbling into the cabinet, I smashed my head on the door when it opened quicker than I expected. Another held-in wince, and I was past the cabinet, searching around on the counter for fruit. My questing fingers hit something hard.

I travelled over it, trying to determine what sort of object it was, until I got to the top. A knife block. Good thing I didn't hit that over and accidentally chop a finger off.

I touched the smooth skin of an apple, and snatched it up, placing it in my hoodie pocket while I used my right hand to navigate my way to the table…which, if I remembered correctly, was directly behind me. I twirled in place, smacking a heel against a cabinet behind me, and moved forwards slowly, hand outstretched. I probably looked like a zombie – eyes open and glassy (and horrifying looking), one hand out like I wanted to pull out brains. Jeez. For Halloween I could just go as myself.

I pulled out a chair cautiously, trying to keep my toes away from being stubbed. I managed quite well, and sat down at the table, to eat my fruit in peace.

Taking a small bite, I licked at the inside. Thankfully, it was quite ripe, and tasted good.

I took a bigger bite, and chewed. It was so silent – I couldn't hear anything from inside the house. Outside, a car engine was making some odd noises, but I ignored them. I took another bite of my apple, and chewed again.

It felt like someone was watching me. But that was ridiculous. It was midnight – what kind of freaky stalker would be out right now? And why would they watch a blind girl? The laugh factor?

Thinking about my desperate stalker made me less concerned about what I looked like to the person watching. It wasn't like I was going to do anything amazing. So, if they wanted to watch, they were welcome to it.

I felt my apple core, and it seemed a lot smaller. There was barely any flesh left on it, so I nibbled the last remnants off, and stood carefully, trying to find my way to the garbage with my right hand holding the apple – there was no way I was going to place it in my hoodie chewed up like that.

I stumbled into the edge of the table, biting back a sob. That one had hurt, I was definitely going to be bruised up.

I moved forwards again, only for my toes to catch on the edge of something, and pitch me forwards, arm flailing. The apple core went flying, and I managed to get my right arm underneath me before I face-planted. Pain shot up my arms from my harsh use of them, the skin pulling. I huffed.

"That was a close one…" I muttered. I could feel my breath wafting back to my face from the floor.

I moved my arm, and frowned slightly. It felt like my left arm was up as well, protecting me from a potential broken nose.

Rolling over on the floor, on to my back, I used my right hand to feel my left. Yes, it was definitely up. Not very well, but it was up.

Now that I was on the floor, it had fallen back to its regular position, but if I felt it with my right hand…

I moved my left thumb, and felt it with my right hand. "Yes!" I hissed out, nearly fist-pumping with excitement. It was a small movement, but this meant that the nerves were re-growing. I hadn't expected this to happen – Doctor Ratch was a miracle worker.

Sitting on the floor in my kitchen, I choked as my laugh turned into a sob. The day's events hit me like a pile-driver to the face, and I burst into tears, again.

Jeez, this was embarrassing, but no one was around to see me. I continued to cry, right hand clenched into a fist on the floor, lightly pounding at it.

A few choice expletives came through my lips, as tears dripped off my nose, hitting the ground with a light smack.

I curled up on the ground, and tucked my knees up to my chest, thrusting my face down into my legs, and sobbed my emotions out, feeling like the end of the world, alone, and crushed.

This was my new reality. A helpless, hopeless, jobless, unable to drive, can't cook, can't even read a freakin' book invalid.

* * *

Prime's private comm. link buzzed, and he answered, almost expecting this particular 'bot to call._ "What is it, Sideswipe?"_

"_Prime! This sucks! I thought that humans would be interesting, and apart from one point where I thought she could see me, but I've been idling outside her house _forever_, and nothing has happened."_

"_That is what we want; we do not want her to suffer more on our account."_

He could almost see the impatient silver 'vette rolling his eyes._ "Yeah, yeah, I know, it is best if they don't know of us." _Here he seemed to take a breath._ "But I'm bored." _Yes, that was a hint of whining in his voice. For Primus' sake, he was acting like a human toddler.

"_Sideswipe. According to Ratchet's scans, she is still in danger of relapsing into energon radiation, and as such, you will watch her until Ratchet has decreed her healthy."_

"_Hatchet'll take forever to have that done, you know that. He's so picky about the little organics - always going off about their physiology being glitchy."_

"_Ratchet is a great medic, and he knows more about human physiology than you, you will listen to his suggestions."_

Sideswipe was in full ranting mode._ "And she smells kind of…what's that human word? Funky. Like really glitched energon or something… Prime, give me something to shoot!"_

"_Do not blow your cover, Sideswipe."_

"_Fine, fine, but if 'cons attack because she shows up on sensors, I'm definitely going to blow it."_

"_Unless strictly necessary, do not blow your cover, Sideswipe." _Optimus amended.

Sideswipe's attention was pulled from him, he could tell by the distracted,_ "Uh huh."_

_ "Hey, Prime, is it normal for humans to be leaking from the optics?"_

Optimus' optics widened, and then narrowed in empathy._ "The stress of the occasion has probably caught up to her, and she is using the human method of 'crying it out,' most likely. I'm not a human expert; Ratchet would be the better one to ask."_

_ "Primus, no! Do I _sound _like I want to talk to the Hatchet? He'll rip out my gears for making her leak, even though I haven't even touched her!"_

The comm. clicked off, and Prime sighed. Sideswipe still wasn't showing any grief towards hurting the human girl, those they had decided to protect from the Decepticons.

Part of that was due to Sideswipe's personality, and the fact that Optimus had wanted to shelter him, just a little bit, with the still-fresh pain of the disappearance of his twin. But not even considering the pain the human was in was low. The Decepticons should be the only ones who didn't care about the collateral human life. It wasn't his fault, per say, but that didn't mean that he should simply ignore it. After all, one life is as precious as the next.

Although that one hadn't really been his fault - Barricade had tackled him into that coffee shop, so it wasn't really Sideswipe's fault. But he was a contributing factor.

Although, Sideswipe knew that he had hurt a human, but the pain of losing his twin would make the pain of injuring another not as strong as it should be.

Then again, the grim reality was that sometimes in battle, innocents were the collateral. Alexandra Wells was lucky to be alive.


	4. Occursus

**Chapter 4: Occursus**

(Latin: _meeting, falling in, running into each other_)

* * *

AN: I not own Cheerios. And this be the chapter you've all been waiting for…sort of…yeah, not really. But Sides plays a major role!

* * *

My alarm clock went off, and I smacked it off with my right hand. Jace had set it for me to go off at six in the morning. I sat up a little, and winced as pain shot up my arms. My left arm was slowly regaining mobility, but each inch hurt like hell.

I was seeing a physiotherapist for mobility and flexibility, but right now, she said something about nerves re-growing and causing pain. I pulled the arm across my torso, feeling the pull of fresh skin on my back stretch and twist with the movement. Pain lanced up my flesh like a blowtorch, and I gasped softly, eyes wincing shut.

I'd been home for a week now. Today, I was going to go to school for the first time since the accident (or attack). If I was completely honest, I was terrified. Funny, how little things could be so scary. But it was the idea of not seeing, of not knowing where I was going, and no one helping me.

Before the attack, school was no big deal, a regular thing that every kid did. My parents had said that I didn't need to go, but Liam had been hinting, more and more heavily, that I should go back. And I was starting to _want_ to go back.

School was the perfect place to go back and work on being blind and dealing with everyday life. Teachers would be around, and people _might_ help me out. On the other hand, some of the girls were really nasty, and I could only imagine some of the things the creepier boys would do. I was essentially helpless.

Liam had said that he'd help me out as much as he could. Then again, he was notorious for getting carried away in school, and forgetting social things – I'd had to call him numerous times before to come and meet me someplace.

I had also called the school, and let them know that I was coming. The secretary had told me to come to the office, and that they'd have one of the new TA's help me out for the day. I needed to do this – I needed to face the fears I now had about school.

I yawned, and stretched my arms above my head, then winced. The left definitely didn't go up as high, and it hurt a lot more.

My face felt funny, and pain was racing up my arms. I lifted my right hand, and rubbed my face lightly with my fingertips – the crying I had done the night before had left my eyes slightly swollen this morning. It was almost standard for me to cry every night once everyone else was in bed.

The psychologist had told me that it was normal, and that I was merely letting out my inner emotions about what had happened. Well, having perfectly healthy emotions sucked.

I hated crying every night, but it would be even worse if I managed to let my parents know about it, or Jace. I didn't want to seem like a crybaby. I was strong, I could deal with it on my own. So what if I cried at night? No one needed to know.

I swiped at my bedside table, feeling the little bottle of pain meds. It was the only one on my bedside table for safety's sake. I wasn't able to tell the identical bottles apart, so Mom had placed only the pain medication there. I opened the lid, carefully using my left hand, something that had taken me a little bit to do with the child-safe lids, and took two of the medications without water. Swallowing them down, I patted my eyes, and then swung my legs out of bed.

For now, my room was pretty easy to mobilize in. I had all my clothes stacked in the drawers, but no idea what order they were in.

Mom had been letting me know in the morning if what I had on matched. Thankfully, before the incident, I had been a t-shirt and jeans type of girl, so now it was really easy to get dressed. Pretty much none of my shirts were the type to not match with a good pair of blue or black jeans.

I ambled into the bathroom, and turned on the shower. It took a while to get that particular skill nailed – I had suffered a few smacks to the head, or hands, or legs, but once I got the hang of it, it was okay. The doctors had said that the burns were healed enough that a shower would be alright, but not a bath yet.

Once I was done, after combing my wet hair and tucking it all into a ponytail, I moved down the steps, into the kitchen, and felt through the cupboards until I came across a bowl, a spoon, and a box of cereal. Slipping my fingers into the cereal, I immediately knew that it was Cheerios.

That was alright. I poured some into the bowl, careful to actually hit the bowl. The first time, I had missed by at least six inches, and poured a whole bunch all over the floor.

I moved over to the fridge, and froze. "Good morning, Jace?"

No one answered. I could feel something watching me, and had been able to at intermittent points during the last week. At first, I thought it to be Jace, but now, I wasn't so sure. Whenever I cried, it felt like I was being watched more intently, and sometimes it seemed illogical that it would be one of my family members.

Like now – Jace wouldn't be awake yet, Mom would be sleeping, and Dad should be gone by now. Really, it was amazing how early Dad left – since the incident, I would wake up whenever he moved around, and then I tried to fall back asleep, only to wait for my alarm to go off.

I liked the early mornings. They were peaceful, quiet, and I had time to myself, to just _exist_. Life seemed to be much more solitary, like I was the only one who was even alive on the planet.

This morning was a little different. I felt that watching presence again, much stronger.

A car engine rumbled across the street, and I idly listened to it, liking the heavy and rich rumble of the engine. My dad would be upset about the noise – he liked a quiet neighbourhood.

I liked it though – it seemed like a symbol of power, grace, and strength. Which was what I lacked now.

Slipping my fingers into my hoodie, I leaned back against the step, and waited. I wasn't sure how long I sat out there, but after a while, Mom came out, and placed something in my lap.

"This is your lunch for today."

"Thanks – what is it?" I was grateful to her, I'd completely forgotten about food for lunch, and it wasn't like Liam would be leaving the school to get anything. That was a close one.

"A chicken sandwich, with tomato, ranch, lettuce and some cucumbers on the side."

Hmmm, Mom must be on one of her health kicks again – she went through diets like my teachers handed out assignments.

I smiled up at where I guessed her to be. "That sounds yummy, thanks Mom."

The car across the street's engine revved heavily, and it made me think that the person in the car was impatient with whoever they were waiting for. Although, I might be too, if I had been waiting as long as this car had – it had been sitting there since I came out.

She touched the top of my head, patting it with her hand. I could feel her concern and anxiety, as well as her hope that all would go well today.

I reached up with my right hand, and placed my slightly chilled fingers on top of her warm ones, pulling them down the side of my face, cradling my face into her hand.

"I'll be okay, Mom, really."

I heard her swallow. "I know you will sweetheart, but I'm your mom, I'm supposed to worry."

She sat down beside me, pulling me into her. Something clicked in my left shoulder, and pain washed up my arm. The drugs had started working, but sudden movements would still cause pain.

"I'll be fine Mom, I have to do this."

"I understand, but if at any point, you need to come home, just call. I'll be home all day, alright?"

I heard Liam's car pull up, and Mom kissed me on the cheek.

"Love you Mom. I think that Liam's giving me a ride home, but he has Science Club, so I might be home a little later."

The incident had caused me to be so thankful of my family; they were such a great support system.

I stood, fumbling with my fingers to find the zipper, place the lunch inside, and shut it. Moving down the sidewalk, I kept my feet to the concrete, and slipped my pack on to my back. Liam lightly touched my arm, leading me to his car. I smiled in his direction.

He opened the door for me, and took my backpack. My cheeks felt hot, and I was grateful that he had to walk around the car to get in, giving me time to control my face. It was difficult, but I managed, I hoped.

"So, thanks again for giving me a ride, Liam, I really appreciate it."

"If I had not wanted to, I would not have offered."

"True, but I still appreciate it, really."

"After school is over, I have Science Club; will you wait or do you have another ride planned?"

"Um, if you're still okay with it at the end of the day, a ride would be great."

He must have nodded, realized I couldn't see, and then made an agreeing noise. I fiddled my fingers in my lap, and sighed once.

"Do not be nervous, you will have ample assistance."

"You know, Liam, I really appreciate the help here, but you suck at comforting a girl." I changed the subject. "How's Pig been lately?"

A world-weary sigh. "Alexandra, you continue to pester me about her every single time we meet. Thus, I shall inform you that she is not all I thought she would be, and my affections are no longer placed upon her."

I could only gape in his direction, cursing my lack of vision. Was he putting me on? He had to be – he'd liked her for over a year, and now, all of a sudden, he doesn't? What happened in this past week?

"What…are you putting me on in learning how to joke, Liam?" I had a teasing tone to my voice, even though I was really confused.

"No, Alexandra, I spoke the truth. I do not harbour any affection for Rebecca Williams at all." His voice was flat, bored.

"That's really….harsh, Liam, what happened?" I was concerned for my friend, he seemed sort of off to me.

"As I informed you previously, I do not consider her to be worth my time."

My eyes widened in shock. That was not what he said before, that was even worse. Had she dissed physics or something?

"Not worth your time? Liam, you barely know her!" I was getting angry at him – this was taking it too far! He was starting to act like a world-class jerk, honestly. Not worth his time? How degrading.

"Are you standing up for her? How unlike you, Alexandra." The degrading tone of his voice cut into me.

Hot tears of anger and humiliation touched my eyes, but I swallowed them back. My hormones were running wild lately, even the slightest of insults, and I'd be off crying a river. But even if I wasn't hormonally influenced, that might have been enough to sting. "You're being a jerk, Liam, stop it."

"Jerk? That's the best you can come up with?" His voice was still completely calm and modulated. My brain shifted into arguing-with-Liam mode. It was important to use complete sentences, and impressive words. If I used slang or simple words, I would only fall prey to what he was saying. I wasn't going to lose to him.

My fists clenched as I shook in anger. "You know what? I can do this without you – I don't need your begrudged assistance."

Condescension rained down on me. "Hmmm. Begrudged. Excellent word choice, Alexandra."

Breathing through my anger, I spoke quietly. "Liam, what has gotten into you? You are acting like a first-rate cad."

"Cad, another interesting word, although perhaps not as…poignant as begrudged."

One more deep breath. "Liam, I have had just about enough of this. What in tarnation is bothering you?"

I could almost taste the condescending tone of his words. "There is nothing bothering me, Alexandra."

"If there is nothing bothering you, then you are behaving like an ass for your own amusement, which I will not sanction, nor will I let you degrade me with your words. Once we get to school, I shall remove myself from you until you apologize. I also shall find my own ride home tonight."

We were quiet the rest of the way to school, other than when Liam turned on some light jazz music, indicating that he didn't want to talk. I was fine with that; I didn't really want to talk either.

Arms crossed against my chest, I stared out the window, or where I thought the window to be.

After a few more minutes, we pulled into school, and I hopped out of the car, feeling around in the back for my pack.

I grabbed it, and then moved towards the back of the car. This was sort of difficult – I thought that Liam had driven in the west side of the school, but he might have come in from the north entrance. I took a breath, held it, and started walking.

Tires squealed from directly in front of me, and I tensed. The loud blare of a horn assaulted my ears, as did the warm blast of air hitting my body. I exhaled, and waved a hand.

"Sorry!" I called out.

"You idiot! Watch where you're going!"

The words stung. I moved forwards again, and walked straight into what felt like a car. Wincing a little, I moved along the car. That was definitely going to bruise.

I teetered off the car, and into space, slightly spinning when a student hip-checked me, almost knocking me over. Instantly panic claimed me as its prize, icy fingers of terror chewing at my heart. I didn't know where I was, I didn't know where the school was, I didn't even know where Liam was.

Moving to the right, someone honked in front of me, tires squealing. I shrieked a little, jumping backwards, only to bump my rear against a car. I stopped, and turned around, both hands on the car, taking deep breaths.

I tried to re-orient myself, but it was hopeless. The cacophony of noise was insane, making my ears ring and my brain scramble. I had no idea where I was, and the panic was mounting, rising in me. Terror climbed through me, racing in icy paths through my veins.

I took deep breaths, and clenched my fists on the car, fighting back the panic, the fear. I could do this – I was a strong, capable girl.

Moving towards the loudest noise of talking, where I imagined the students to be, I ran my hand along the side of the car, just as a marker for where I was. It had to be my imagination, but the car seemed to move, a teeny tiny bit. Or, there was someone still in the car, and was causing it to move. Yeah, probably that one.

They'd be annoyed about me fingering the paintjob.

"Sorry!" I called to whoever was inside the vehicle, feeling much more in control now. Perhaps it was something about the car. "Didn't mean to cause marks on the paint…"

Someone behind me called out. "Hey, Scarface, don't touch that car! You'll infect it!"

With that one comment, my self-confidence was shattered. I swallowed heavily, clenching my tongue to the top of my mouth, and pressing my teeth shut.

A girl squealed behind me. "Oh, gross! Look at her!"

One tear escaped, and I choked. Maybe I wouldn't be able to do this today – maybe I wasn't ready. Wiping it off furiously, I tried to move away, out of the lethal parking lot.

I stumbled over what appeared to be a curb, and nearly face-planted, if it wasn't for someone's quick move to grab me.

That someone took my hand. Obviously Liam.

Thank goodness he wasn't enough of a jerk to leave me in the middle of the parking lot, about to get run over or laughed at by my peers. I would have run him over with his own car if he had ditched me.

He led me to the office, nearly dragging me behind him. I was trying to hide from people, but it was impossible – I could hear their whispers, their laughter, mocking and horror easily. My fear of the people, and the distaste I was feeling from the people watching translated to anger with Liam.

This was all his fault – he had pressured me into coming to school, even though I was clearly not ready for it, as well as abandoned me in the parking lot to get run over by souped-up trucks driven by morons. I was becoming more and more annoyed and angry with Liam, down to the way he was pulling on my wrist so harshly – I couldn't walk that fast, my legs were short.

Add to that the fear and disgust that I had for the other students, and my day was sure to be hell.

Liam let me know there was a chair right behind me. I was still seething, because of the fact that I was grateful that he helped me. I hadn't needed his help! Correction, I had needed his help, but I sure didn't want it.

I took a deep breath. Mature was the only way to go about this. "Thanks for helping me, but I'm still annoyed with you, Liam."

"You would do the same for me." And with that, I heard his feet against the carpet as he left.

I waited in the office for a while, before the secretary noticed me. She fussed over me and made sympathetic noises over my eyes. It felt weird.

She had me wait as she completed the morning announcements, and then she took me to my English class, where she had me sit at the back with the TA.

I didn't mind – school was weird for me. Perhaps I could stay here for the day. It was so loud, and crazy sounding in the halls. There were noises and echoes and odd sounds everywhere. I could barely hear my thoughts over the noise – I didn't remember it being this loud at all.

I barely knew what to focus on, and I was terrified of the students' hurtful comments.

Someone touched my shoulder. I turned to that side, thinking it to be the TA – he was on that side.

"I'm Mr. Driffen." He sounded nice enough, but maybe slightly annoyed he had to help a blind girl out for the day. Well, tough luck bud, I'm living it. If he made even one comment, I was so out of here. I could still feel the tears lurking at the corners of my eyes, ready to splash out and roll down my cheeks.

"Alex. Nice to meet you," I said softly, hoping that he wouldn't be like the others, and say something mean.

"You too…" he sounded disturbed, and I could guess why. My eyes. Jace had told me they were still freak-show eyes, although he used nicer terms.

He said that the iris had turned red, from the blood vessel damage, and the pupils were white with scar tissue. Yeah, that would look pretty scary.

Apparently, this Mr. Driffen character wasn't much for real-life gore. I didn't really blame him though – as long as he didn't say anything about it, and just helped me out, instead of making it harder for me.

He led me down the hall by letting me grab his sleeve. My pack was still on my back. I wasn't sure if I could do the locker combination, and I didn't remember it off the top of my head – it was something I'd done so many times, it was muscle memory only.

Once English started, I tried to listen, but the teacher was talking about something on her whiteboard. I couldn't see, but Mr. Driffen was telling me what it said, although his voice was getting increasingly strained. It sort of sounded like he wasn't doing too well. I heard his stomach make some very interesting noises. It was hard to pay attention to both Mr. Driffen and the teacher, and not get distracted by the conversations going around or his stomach.

I also knew the pointlessness of coming back to this school, but I was just re-adjusting myself. I was going to have to learn Braille, and probably go to a school for people who couldn't see, but I managed to barter a week from my parents. I wanted to go to my old school for a week.

I needed closure. From the idea of my old life, from vision, from all of it. And this was how I wanted to get it.

At one point, Mr. Driffen excused himself to go to the bathroom, and I tried my hardest to focus on the teacher. Random conversations in the room kept on snatching my attention. Lyle Carter was planning a party this weekend, Sarah Griff was going to Canada for the summer, Mikado Shin was travelling back to Tokyo to see her family again, others were speaking about me, how scary I looked, and still others were speaking about the actual English assignment.

It was nearly all a blur at that point. I couldn't do this – I wasn't going to make it through five days of this. Then the door to the classroom opened, and someone came inside. It should have been Mr. Driffen, he was the only one out, but I could tell immediately that it wasn't.

From the gasps of the girls, I could tell it was someone attractive. Perhaps a new student had started here when I was gone?

I could hear what he said to the teacher. "I'm the TA here to replace Mr. Driffen, he wasn't feeling well."

Steps down the aisle, murmurs and hushed conversations all around as the new person approached me.

"Hey, Driffen got sick, and they put me with you. Call me Sides."

I blinked. "Sides? What kind of name is that?"

There was a sigh from the guy beside me. "Dunno. Perhaps my…parents…didn't like me much."

The whispers of the girls caught my ears, "Holy hell, is that guy hot." "I heard him say his name was Sides…kind weird, don't you think?" "Who cares, with that body?" "And that face?!"

Hmmm. I don't think he'd take it too well if I asked to touch his face. It was a passing fancy, really, but it was quite sad that I'd never see someone's face again.

I was quiet in an attempt to listen to the teacher, but this TA was not so kind. "This is boring."

"Yeah, well, high school is boring, didn't you get the memo?"

A snort. "Nope. Op…" He trailed off.

"Op?" I asked, one eyebrow raised. Was that short for something?

"I'm…home-schooled?" He sounded like he was testing the word out. What a weird TA.

"So, what made you think 'teaching's the job for me' after you graduated high school at home?" I was genuinely curious. Was it only due to his desire to have the same sort of school-life as others, or something philosophical like teaching at a different level, or greater understanding?

"What? Frag that – I mean…um…I like teaching…" I almost burst out laughing. So, he didn't like teaching? Then why was he a TA?

It was strange – I felt really at home with him, like I'd known him for years and years instead of only today.

"Frag? You're a really weird TA, Mr. Sides." Weirdest one I'd ever met. Why in the world did he want to be a teacher then?

He muttered lowly, "You've got no idea, human." Louder, he said, "Look, just call me Sides, none of that Mister slag, got it?"

I ignored the human part – perhaps it was just an idiosyncrasy of his, call people 'human,' or something. Whatever it was, it was more than a little weird. "Okay, Sides it is."

Slag? Maybe it was his own language, and he thought using it made him sound cool. And he was supposed to be a TA?

The bell rang, and I turned to him. "So. Are you supposed to be my shadow for the day, and help me to all my classes?"

"Yup," he said, popping the P. I was glad – I felt safe and secure with him.

I turned, and started to walk the way towards the door, out of the class, when I was assailed by some girls. I couldn't tell which ones, just that I probably should know them from their voices. Right now, it was just a blur of noise.

"Why are your eyes like that?" "Oh my gosh, I bet you were so scared!" "Do your eyes hurt?" "I don't think I'd have survived something like that!" "How ugly!"

It was like dealing with three-year-olds - who were able to hurt with their words. Usually three-year-olds were brutally honest, but not catty. At least they weren't being overly mean about it, or hurtful with their comments - not bad enough that I couldn't handle it.

I tried to push through, but it was really hard when I couldn't remember exactly where the door was. Someone grabbed my arm, and pulled me out of the suddenly raging mass of female hormones.

"Um…thanks." I managed, face probably brilliant red.

"No sweat…Primus, what a weird statement."

And again, my TA guide is from outer space. Primus? Perhaps he was a video-game junkie, and was so invested in that he used the odd terminology for everyday things. Yeah. A video-game junkie who wanted…sort of…to become a teacher. Something just didn't fit.

Did he mean that my 'thanks' was a weird statement, or the 'no sweat' part?

"Well, anyways, thanks. I appreciate it – could you help me to my locker? Number 830, down to the right."

"Sure, got nothing better to do." I winced. Tears came to my eyes, and I was immediately disgusted with myself for crying. I was so weak! But it was true – I was only a burden to people, with nothing to offer.

He probably didn't mean it that way, but the comment stung. Added on to the comments from this morning, and it was too much. Pressure swelled behind my eyes, and I swallowed harshly, trying my best to keep it cool, keep it contained.

I barely even registered that he was still holding my hand, still leading me down the noisy halls. I was too caught up in trying not to cry.

The TA was muttering numbers under his breath, presumably looking for my locker. "Ah! Here we are, 830." He muttered under his breath again, "Primus, what a hassle."

That was it. It was barely ten o'clock in the morning, and I couldn't do it anymore. I was going home, where I was going to bawl my eyes out, again. My breath stuttered out, and I bit my lip hard, not wanting to look like a wimp, but unable to help it. I touched the lockers with my hands, and then pressed my face against them, ignoring the TA.

Tears slipped down my cheeks, my mind replaying the comments of the day. The girls, the guy in the parking lot, Liam, Sides.

I clenched my fist, and swallowed, trying desparately to not let the TA see the tears. Steadying my voice, I spoke quietly, able to hear a slight waver in my tone. "You know what? I got this. I'm just going to go home. I can't…" I lost it, and a choked sob escaped my lips.

I crumpled to the floor, having a meltdown on the floor of my school, face buried in my knees, arms wrapped around my legs. The bell rang again, and I heard all the noise from the halls empty out swiftly. The metal in my shoulder suddenly ached, pangs of pain racing down my spine.

The rude TA was silent, until, "Want to go for a drive?" He spoke quietly, voice coming from right beside me. He was probably crouched down, wondering about the weepy girl.

I shook my head, hesitated, and then nodded, forehead knocking into my knees. Tears still streamed down my cheeks, I stood up, rubbed my eyes with my sleeve, and hiked my pack higher up my back. I couldn't do the school thing today, I just couldn't do it. Closure would have to wait until tomorrow.

The thought that the TA could be a psycho serial killer crossed my mind, but I didn't pay it much attention. It wasn't likely, and I wouldn't be much fun in any case.

I just needed…I didn't know what I needed.

It was intensely frustrating. I scrubbed at my eyes with my hand, and tried my hardest to stem the weak tears.

He grabbed my hand and led me out of the school.

The way we walked was the same way that Liam had led me into the school, only in reverse.

"What type of vehicle do you have?" I asked, discretely drying the rest of the tears on my hoodie. They were gone, as fast as they came. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I was leaving the school. Or maybe it was because I felt so at ease with the TA.

"Huh? Oh, a silver Corvette Stingray Concept, 2009."

My head snapped to him, eyes the size of plates. Immediate re-evaluation. This guy's loaded, or his parents are. The first comment out of my mouth was, in hindsight, quite rude.

"Well, I can tell where _your_ priorities are," I said in a snarky tone of voice. Immediately after, I flushed, and pulled my hand away from his arm, mortified. I couldn't believe I had actually _said _that, out loud.

"Oh-I…um, I'm sorry…that was really…rude of me."

He laughed, cutting my panicked thoughts, and few words, off. "It wasn't rude, it's true," he said, still snickering. "My car is my life – I'd die without it."

Sheesh, managed to make it out of that one. But his answer…how shallow is he? Wait, what if he didn't want me in his car? I mean, that was a really fancy and shiny car – I don't know if I owned one that I'd let other people even touch it. "Um…I can clean my feet off, if you want…"

"What's up with you all of a sudden? We're going for a drive, in me-my car, and you haven't insulted me, or whatever. Primus help me."

Oh, fantastic, he thought I was a spaz. Then again, he was really not so normal himself. Frag? Primus?

Then again, today I seemed to be an emotional wreck, so school was not safe for me, and neither was home. Mom would just hover, and I'd snap at her, and it wouldn't be good.

Sides…weird name…had insulted me, but I got the feeling that he was just sort of awkward around people in general, and didn't really mean it. At least, I hoped so.

The sound of a door opening made me refocus on where I was walking. "Here you go, door's open for ya!"

"Thanks, Sides."

"Sure. Sometimes, I like to just drive, you know? Keeps my mind off things."

I wished I still could drive, but that wasn't going to happen again. The smell inside the car was heavenly, like new car smell, and something I couldn't identify. I carefully crawled into the vehicle, put on my seat belt, and then flailed around to the right side of me where the door should be. Nothing but air. Once, I touched something I thought was the door, but it turned out to be Sides' jacket.

Sides snickered at me from outside. "What are you doing?"

"Where is the damn door to this car?"

I could tell he was supressing a laugh, because the car was subtly vibrating. He must have been pressing on it with his hands. "Why are you looking way out here? Trying to grab me?"

I flushed again, "No, I'm trying to make sure I have you lined up perfectly so the car door'll hit you. Jerk."

"Ooh, feisty. Well, these doors are pretty fancy in that they are power-operated."

I sat back in the seat, and crossed my arms across my chest. "Power-operated doors? You pulling my leg?"

His first words were quiet, but I caught them. "Why in the worlds…oh…No, I'm not…pulling your leg." I frowned at his bizarre words.

"You have to be one of the strangest people I've ever met. Really."

There was a hum coming from the car, and I frowned.

"Door shutting, keep all body parts in the vehicle." His voice was monotone, but I could hear the playful hint to it.

I looked away from Sides, smiling a little bit to the center of the car. His voice came from the other side. "I saw that!"

He got in the other side, and then we started moving, backing up, and I sighed. The sound of the engine was pretty much heavenly.

"If I wasn't blind, I think I'd ask to drive your car…I'm pretty sure I'm in love with it."

He laughed, and boasted, "Yup, hard not to love this thing of beauty."

Something about the engine sounded really familiar. I thought about it, but when Sides really hit the accelerator, I forgot that I was supposed to be thinking at all.

I smiled, turning my face to the side to gaze blankly out the window, thinking about nothing in particular, other than the sound of the engine, the roar of the acceleration, the speed and power.

After a while, I started to get hungry, stomach rumbling a little, and bladder feeling slightly full. I thought about Liam, his words from this morning, about how he thought me a coward, and an idiot to boot. Hot tears leaked down my face again. I wiped them off as subtly as possible, not wanting another person to think me a crybaby.

We drove, and drove, the inside of the car quiet, neither of us willing to break the peace that had settled.

At one point, I asked to stop so I could go to the bathroom. I got out of the car, and then turned around.

"Um…which way to the bathroom?"

"Give me one moment, and I'll help you out, okay?" I heard his side of the car open, feet hit the concrete, and come towards me. He grabbed my hand with his, and towed me forwards. I could hear the car doors going down, and feel the warmth of his hand.

I nearly tripped over a rock or the curb, but Sides managed to keep me upright. "Okay, just down here."

I went to the bathroom, after fumbling around in the room for a while, not bothering to turn on the lights. They wouldn't have made a difference. I washed my hands, and then ate my sandwich, in the dark, in the bathroom, as fast as I could.

I didn't want to eat in his car – what if I slipped and dropped a chunk of chicken on the dash? I wouldn't even be able to see it, and he'd be disgusted. That would be so embarrassing. I was too hungry to care where I ate, and I had just washed my hands…I was done now.

I came out, and immediately floundered, not knowing where he was. This sucked.

Again, I questioned my wisdom in leaving with a strange guy – but I did have my cell-phone on me, they'd be able to track its signal if anything happened to me. But they wouldn't know until late tonight, because Mom thought Liam was bringing me home.

Oh, dear. What if he really was a serial killer? What if he had ditched me here at this little gas station, well outside the city? I was a goner.

No, wait. I could use this as my chance to show myself, and my family that I was alright. I could do this by myself, I didn't need anyone's help.

As I took a step forwards, convinced that he had left me to play a prank on a blind girl, someone grabbed my arm. I almost punched them in the guts with my right hand, but froze when I smelled their scent. It was Sides. I relaxed.

"Sorry – almost got you there."

"Yeah…we need to leave…people are touching me-my car… and I don't like it at all…" His voice was a mix of whine and actual annoyance.

It made me smile, he was such a child. Then again, if his car was his first priority, it made sense that he would be extra territorial of it. "Sure."

We went back out, bell ringing above our heads. As we approached the car, I could hear the people around it by the appreciative noises they were making, the coos and hums of men who loved a good car, the women who were looking for the man who owned it to see if they could get some money out of him. Vultures.

Then again, I had commented pretty much the same. So, I was a vulture and a hypocrite.

Sides interrupted my internal self-bashing as he helped me into the car. "Hmm. We should probably head back about now – its noon. Unless you want to go longer?"

I shrugged. "Whatever you want – I'm really enjoying this. Thanks for this, by the way, this has been just what I needed. Away time, you know?"

I could almost _feel_ him giving me an odd look.

I elaborated. "All these people, thinking they get me, they get what I'm going through, but they don't. They have no idea, no clue, of what I'm thinking, of what I've lost, no idea at all."

"Longer it is."

This time, I knew that he didn't see my grin. I pulled off my hoodie, revealing the tank top that I had put on this morning. Who knew what color it was.

The car jerked, shuddered, and almost seemed to spasm. I grabbed the door handle. "Sides? Your car…"

His voice was strained, harsh, like he was eating glass and had to sound like it was no big deal. "Oh…that. It does that sometimes."

"Huh. You should probably get that looked at."

"Yeah, I probably should…"

The car squealed out of the lot, revving up to a fast pace almost instantly. I was sucked against the back of my seat, thankful I put my seatbelt on. My shoulder pulsed heavily, causing a small wave of pain down my spine.

Sides spoke. "You have a scar on your back…Where did you get it from?" His voice was carefully toned, but I could hear the curiosity in his voice. It almost sounded like his voice was coming from the sound system, which didn't make a lot of sense.

"Um, I have lots of scars…all from an accident a few weeks ago…why? I won't bleed on your car, if that's what you're worried about. Or, well, I'll try my best not to…"

He exhaled slowly, heavily. "No…no…"

With a fast move, the car was sliding, turning. My head was thrown to the side, and I felt some of the fresh skin on my neck stretch from the turn. I shrieked a little, I admit.

"What was that for? Did we hit something?"

"No…I just…"

Sides was really quiet. I reached over, to touch him, but couldn't reach. Maybe my left arm wasn't flexible enough to reach him yet. I touched the gear shift, and the car twitched again, over a bump in the road.

The drive back was quiet. Eventually, he stopped, and spoke. "This is your house."

I turned to him, and smiled, even though I couldn't see him. "Thanks. You've been the best TA I ever had. Honest."

As I fumbled for the doorknob (did it even have one, or was that powered too?) he spoke. "I…lost my brother, a long time ago. My twin. Something…reminded me of him. I want you to know…that I…I'm here, if you need to talk."

Something was pressed into my hand as the door powered open. I felt it, deciding it was a piece of paper. It made me feel warm inside. Someone that wasn't a friend before, nor family, understood. He had to – losing a twin would be even worse than losing vision. I suddenly felt like a cad, like I had accused Liam of being.

"I'm sorry…all these dramatics on my part, and you've dealt with something like this…sorry. I'm such a teenager…"

"I didn't mind. We all have our own methods of coping."

"And mine happens to be crying all over the floor. Terrific," I muttered, lowly.

A short snicker came from Sides – the comment seemed to have livened him up a bit. "Well, at least you don't lubricate yourself."

I scrunched my face up, until the meaning came to me. "Nice, Sides. Really, you have the maturity of a thirteen year old boy. And a terribly messy coping method."

"Hey, I don't lubricate on myself, I'm not huma-" he quickly cut himself off. "Inhumanely disgusting." Before saying quietly, "I'll pick you up for school tomorrow, Alex, and after…I'll let you drive."

I was pretty sure he winked, even though I couldn't see. Something about him made me think that he would be the type to do that.I blinked, nonplussed, before smiling and hoisting my backpack higher on my back. "Sure."

Inhumanely disgusting? What had he been about to say? That he wasn't human? Weirdo.

* * *

"_Prime. I think this human is sort of…weak. If any 'Cons come around, she's off-lined. Or even any humans with less-than-honourable__ intentions."_

"_I am aware of that, however, there is no reason for the Decepticons to target her."_

"_Other than the Cybertronian writing on her back, or the fact she picks up on sensors as an energon source?" _Sideswipe sounded miffed.

"_It is very faint, and distinctly organic. I do not think the Decepticons will bother with her. However, I will have you check on her every month to ensure her continued survival."_

"_Understood. I'd slag anyone who off-lined the femme. The little femme sort of grew on me, you know? In a weird, organic squishy sort of way."_

"_I understand, Sideswipe. Humans have a tendency to do that."_

"_Yeah, well, this is the only one, got it? I don't have time to be racing all over the country human-watching, when I could be scrapping Decepticons."_

"_I will keep that in mind. After tomorrow come back to base – the Decepticons are up to something."_

"_Alright, Sideswipe, out."_


	5. Pax

**Chapter 5: Pax**

(Latin: _peace_)

* * *

AN: Ahaha…I meant to update for Wednesday, and then a paper was dumped on me. I know, I know, terrible excuse, but I did work really hard and managed to get this mostly done. So, here it is, 2 days late…

The chapter of this title – instantly, my brain went "Orion Pax!" And then from there, I was trying to figure out what his name might mean. The best I could come up with is one who holds a shield and sword, as well as desiring peace. Sheesh – I wonder if they planned it that way? Probably…

Disclaimers: I mean nothing against computer engineers – I have a good friend who is one, and I also know that Alex sort of exaggerates about the difficulties of being blind, but right now, she's just going through the stages of grief, as well as letting out some emotions on how she really feels. Also, a little hint of language, mostly from Alex… (f-word is dropped, once or twice…sorry guys. She refused to be censored…)

Let me know your thoughts?

* * *

I had finally gotten used to the darkness, most of the time. Sometimes it still hit me hard, especially right in the morning, when I woke up and opened my eyes. I was sitting on the doorstep, breathing in the smooth morning air, already warm with the sun shining down on me, when I heard an engine rolled up. A tiny smile crossed my face, remembering Sides' words about coming to pick me up for school today. I hadn't been sure if he had been kidding me or not – apparently, he hadn't lied.

I heard the door to the car whine slightly as it powered open quickly. Damn rich guy. Sheesh.

"Morning, Alex, how're you?"

I stood, picking up my bag and moving towards the noise. My feet felt the path of concrete, and stayed to it, making sure that I did not feel my foot give when I stepped downwards. The sidewalk was easy to hit, and I moved past that, toes clad in shoes feeling for the give of grass. I could hear his footsteps coming towards me, slightly muffled by the grass.

"Pretty good. You?"

"Fine. Why does your school start so early in the morning?" He grumbled, sounding put out and nearly whining.

I snickered softly. "Just because you're home-schooled…"

"Hm? Oh…oh, yeah…"

I blinked, perplexed.

Hiking my pack higher, I took a full step on to the grass. Something warm touched my hand, and grabbed it. "I'm over this way."

He hauled me over, and nearly tucked me into the car. It was gentle, careful, like I was a piece of glass, about to break.

The door closed behind me as I fumbled for the seatbelt. I could hear his footsteps as he came around the car, and when he pressed himself in, the leather squeaking slightly and making a soft noise to readjust under his weight.

The door shut, and we were on our way.

I enjoyed the purr of the engine for a moment, staring out the window, chin cupped in my right hand. I murmured past my teeth.

"How did you know where I lived? Yesterday – I never told you."

He barely paused, but the car swerved the tiniest bit. "It was in the office, in your papers."

"You looked at my files?"

"Of course, I wanted to make sure I knew enough about you so that I could help you out."

I was slightly annoyed, feeling a little bit like I had been violated. That was my personal information. Was anyone allowed to just go on in and look at my file all they wanted?

Then the rationale part of my brain kicked in, and cooled my annoyance. Of course they wouldn't just let anyone look at it – they had to be carefully watched, especially since I was hardly the most paranoid person in the schools.

A small curiosity nagged at me. "So, you looked at my files to make sure you could watch over me better? When did you do that? Mr. Driffen was only out for a few minutes."

His voice was amused. "You think yours is the longest file I've ever read? Not even close."

I shrugged, and then smirked out the window. "You have one of the best memories that I've ever seen – you remembered my address from reading it once? Impressive."

"A fantastic memory isn't as great as it sounds." His voice was amused still, with a small undertone of sadness and pain. That curiosity nagged me again, and I almost asked what he had lost, but I held my tongue. I had only met the guy yesterday, even if I felt like I had known him for a lot longer.

I paused for a moment, and then continued, trying to get the humor back. "And slightly creepy."

He seemed to come out of his daze at my last words. "And I am so far past creepy, you'd be amazed, femme."

I frowned. "Femme? Short for female?" I cocked one eyebrow.

His voice took on a guilty sort of tone, like he had spilled something that he wasn't supposed to. "Um, it's a gaming term. I accidentally use those sometimes…"

"What game?" I questioned. Sure, I didn't game, but Jace did. Perhaps he'd have seen some of these terms online, or whatever the heck he did on his laptop all day.

Seriously, that man becoming a computer engineer was simply an excuse to play on his computer all day and night – I could tell a lot of the time that he was gaming. My ears were so good now that I could hear the tinny music coming from the headphones.

"It's a foreign game, called-" He named something very long and complicated sounding, that I knew that I would never be able to duplicate. I was pretty sure that there were some clicks and harsh grating sounds involved in the title. A chill raced up my spine, but I ignored it.

"You're really into that? Online gaming?"

I could hear the clothing rustle as he either shrugged or shifted on the seat. "Only when I don't have other duties to do."

"Like following blind girls around?" I was trying for humor, but the statement rang too true to really carry off the humor intended. I felt useless again, and felt tears rising again. Jeez, I couldn't even joke with someone without bursting into tears.

"Saying it like that makes me sound like a criminal." His voice was flat, but I could sense the humor right beneath the surface. "Tell you what – if you make it through even half of the day, I'll let you drive."

I was both elated and horrified, emotions swinging around again. "Do you really mean it?"

I wanted to make sure he knew he had a way out – this was a really, really nice car. What if I crashed, and he sued me for all I was worth?

This was a bad idea.

"I…I don't think I should. I mean, if I crash, and you sue, I'm in debt until I die, unless I die in the crash and kill you too. And since I'm blind, well, I don't know how I'll work off the debt, and I'll for sure crash, because I can't see. Really, you're signing your own death warrant here, mister."

He laughed. _Laughed._ Like my crashing his super-expensive, nice car was no big deal. Like a double-suicide was no big deal. Because he had to be suicidal, to want _me_ to drive.

"How much money do you have?" I breathed. If he was this nonchalant about me crashing his silver, 2009 Corvette Stingray Concept, he must be overly loaded in the cash department.

"Look, you won't be able to hurt the car. Honest – trust me."

"You're insane," I told him bluntly. "But if you don't magically retract that offer, I'm going to take you up on it," I warned.

Maybe I should ask if he had a paper to sign that stated he had said it was alright to drive the car. But I wouldn't be able to see, so he could have me signing a paper stating that I was about to rob the bank of England, or a check for twelve million.

Taking him up on the offer of driving would be the stupidest thing I had ever done. But it would be the last time I could ever drive. Even if it ended in a crash (which was the likely outcome), it would still be _me_ crashing. Maybe I should ask him to come with me in _my_ car, so that I crashed my own car.

He slowed the car to turn into the school (I assumed). I was hit with the sound of the engine again, smooth and powerful.

"If you don't do it, I'm going to think you're a wuss."

I was, I really was a wuss. But he was the one offering… "I'll do it."

I could tell he was smiling again. "Atta girl."

The car stopped and the door started to rise, the small noise accompanying it. I unhooked the seatbelt, and grabbed my bag from my feet. Getting out of the car, I carefully stabilized myself by using a hand against the sleek and warm outside of the car. I kept my head down in moving away from the car – wouldn't do to hit my head on the door.

I stood in the parking lot, and listened to the whine of the doors closing. Once they were down, I moved back to the car and used it to move along to the curb – or where I thought the curb was. Sides met me, and grabbed my arm, moving it to the top layer of whatever he was wearing. The fabric felt like a jacket, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure on that. It might have been a sweater of some sort.

I followed him. As he opened the door, my ears picked up the sound of teenage girls talking.

"Look at her, hanging all over him." "How disgusting – using her blindness and scars to get close to his money." "She's so disgusting."

Tears came to me again.

Sides must have heard them, or me swallowing heavily, because he stopped, and spoke loudly. "Detention for the ladies in the corner there – yes, you three with the slag on your faces. Every day for the next month, with Mr. Pash in room three ninety-seven."

A small smile came across my face, almost wiping away the hurtful words. But I knew that they would be back – once Sides was gone. He had only bought me a little time.

Once he was gone, I'd get it even worse. They were just jealous, I knew that, but I would trade with them in a heartbeat. If I could see, I would never have even met Sides, much less ridden in his car.

They had nothing to be jealous of – my life, as I had expected it to go, was completely destroyed and gone.

My attention snapped back to Sides when he snickered, and spoke under his breath.

"I _like _being a TA – people listen to you!"

I raised an eyebrow in the direction of his voice. "Most TA's just want it to be over so they can start making money, but of course that wouldn't apply to you. Oh no, you'd be more interested in your ability to make students weep while you hand out detentions."

Sides was still snickering. "Primus, if you could have seen their faces! Oh, the flexibility of human faces is hilarious!"

My walking pace faltered, and I must have looked shocked and confused.

Sides cracked up again. "Like that! Do you have _any_ fragging idea how funny that is?"

"Glad my face amuses you, you power-hungry gaming freak. It isn't like you don't have a face of your own…"

I imagined him standing in front of a mirror, making faces at himself, and snickered. That sounded about right.

In my imagination, since I'd never seen him, he was really attractive. I figured that he couldn't be completely unfortunate looking, because all the girls had been oogling him. So in my imagination, he was freaking gorgeous. A girl could dream, right?

I was brought out of my imagination by the snickering of Sides beside me.

Sides chortled all the way into my first class of the day, and finally managed to cool off once we were both sitting down. I pressed my arms across my chest, taking extra care with the slow left one. My shoulder burned momentarily, making me wince and clench my teeth.

Instantly, Sides' voice was at my ear. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, nearly hitting his face. "Nothing – I just moved wrong, is all," I whispered back, trying to listen to the teacher again.

As the class went on, the teacher speaking about alliteration and Shakespeare, Sides made a loud noise, and I heard clothing rustling.

"Frag, you better only make it a half-day, I think I'm going to explode if you decide to stay all day."

A tiny smirk landed on the corner of my lips. Sides had the shortest attention span that I had ever seen.

"How did you survive school? Oh, wait – home-schooled. Did you have ADHD, or something?"

More clothing rustling. "No, but Primus – this woman has been 'teaching' the same fragging thing for the last forty-five minutes! Even barely sentient beings must have caught on to the general idea of what she's saying by now!"

"You talk really funny, you know that, right?"

He simply huffed, and moved some more. My thoughts travelled off (he was right, the teacher was boring) into thoughts about Liam. He hadn't called, and I hadn't attempted to contact him either. I was still annoyed and hurt that he had called me a coward, and then rebuffed all my efforts to get him to talk to me.

The idea that he didn't think me worth his time, nor trustworthy enough to let me know what was bothering him hurt, a lot. We had been best friends for years now, and he still didn't trust me enough to tell me anything.

Granted, I didn't really want to hear about his…dreams, or such things, but if something was bothering him, yeah, I wanted to know about it. I wanted to be able to help, as much as I possibly could.

Liam was bothered by something, and had been getting more and more irate and…off since I had been in the hospital. I was starting to get concerned – I just wanted my anal, overly-formal best friend back.

The bell rang a few minutes later, and Sides exhaled beside me, loudly. "Thank Primus! I thought that Pit of a class would never end! How do you humans _do_ this every day?"

I shrugged, ignoring the human comment. Perhaps the game he played was one where he was a character that wasn't human. No big deal.

"When you've done it since you were five, you just go with it."

Sides was moving around very energetically, with lots of noise. It was making me think that he must be stretching or jogging in place. The noise of the class getting up and packing up drowned out the noise he was making.

"So…are you going to make it through another class, or can we go drive now?"

"What kind of TA are you, really? You'd rather drive than have me learn?"

He scoffed. "As if you learned anything from that."

The class was really noisy now, but I could still hear him easily.

He had a point. I inclined my head, acceding to his comment. "True. But no, I think I can make it through another class."

Sides was pouting, I could tell. What a weird guy.

"Are you sure? Not even a little bit wanting to leave?"

I stood, and stretched once, feeling my shoulder pop and a few places in my back click. "No, I think I'll live."

"Does your back normally make noises like that?" He sounded horrified.

I shrugged again. "Sometimes – it feels good though. Your back doesn't?"

"If it does, I'm going to see a medic right away."

I laughed lightly. "You are so paranoid! A little back-clicking doesn't hurt you, sheesh."

He grabbed my arm, and plucked my backpack from me, carrying it with him (I hoped). "Okay, next class is history – that's bound to be more interesting, yes?"

I shrugged, feeling warmth on my arm. "Eh, one can hope."

His groan nearly drowned out the other noises in the class.

I followed him as he started walking, muttering under his breath. My hearing easily picked up what he was saying. More of those weird clicks and whistles that sent a chill up my back and some words. "I'm going to shoot whoever invented school, and stuff my blades so far up their-"

I cut him off. "Blades? Holy – who gave you blades?"

His voice sounded slightly guilty. "You can hear me?"

I nodded, confident that he'd be able to see the motion.

"That's crazy – you can actually hear this?" He made some more of the clicking noises. Another wave of cold washed up my spine, prickling the hair on my arms and legs.

"Yes," I hissed, rubbing my left arm (the arm he was holding) with my right hand.

"Frag…um…the language from the game…I'm kind of a …nerd…"

I nodded. "Yeah, I thought so. The blades?"

Someone bounced into me as we walked, but Sides' grip on my arm was still strong. He led me down the hall, and into another class. It felt like we had walked the right distance to be in the other class, the memory still quite fresh in my mind.

He pulled out a chair, the feet scraping against the ground, and set it behind me, bumping the backs of my legs with it. I sat down, and rubbed my arms, trying to get them warm again.

He still hadn't answered, but I didn't want to pry. Maybe his blades were replicas from a game or movie. I knew that you could buy blades from Lord of the Rings, or lightsabers online.

But people usually didn't want to stuff expensive replicas up someone's private areas. So, were they just cheap ones? Or real? Somehow, from what I knew, they'd be real.

Which brought me back to the question of how he had obtained these blades. And what they looked like, or how heavy they were.

History was boring – the teacher showed a video of the government, and how it was laid out, but I couldn't see the video, so I assumed I was missing stuff. I thought more about the strange TA during this time. Sides was fidgeting, making lots of noise beside me, to the point where the teacher actually asked him to sit still.

He responded for a few minutes, and then started sighing and making noises again.

Briefly, I contemplated being evil and staying to the end of the day – he'd be bouncing off the walls by then. Really I would be fine for the rest of the day if it stayed this quiet.

He should be able to handle it – he'd have to when he became a teacher.

The bell rang, and he breathed out heavily. "Yes!" With another breath, he had grabbed my hands. "Drive?"

I snickered – I couldn't help it. There was horror in his voice. "No, no, no – you can't be serious! I'll die if I have to endure another class!"

"Geez – your parents must not have known what to do with you. I bet you were a real livewire."

He stopped breathing for a minute, and when he spoke, his voice was slightly somber. "Yeah, I guess I was a 'livewire.'"

I tried to steer away from whatever had stirred up the somber attitudes. "Well, just one more class, then I can crash your car."

He scoffed, grabbed my arm, dragging me past the chattering teens, and loud noises in the class into the halls. The halls were filled with noises of lockers slamming and people talking. It was so loud I barely heard Sides.

"You won't crash – I promise."

I smiled, warmth in my chest. Even if he was a raving lunatic, he was a really great guy. Sure, a little off in the head, but I wasn't exactly one to judge. Any person that would hang out with a freak like me was a friend worth having, in my books.

He pulled me down the halls, intent on getting to the next class, as if he could make the clock go faster the quicker he got into the room.

I trotted after him, bouncing off of people and nearly tripping a few times. Sides didn't stop, nor did he apologize.

We went into the next classroom, and I hit my left shoulder on the wall. That was the shoulder with the metal chunk still in it, from the explosion at the café. The one that the doctors had told me to be careful with. A small whimper escaped my lips – pain seared down my arm.

I pressed my tongue against the top of my mouth harshly, clenching my jaw.

Sides stopped, and turned to me. "You okay?"

I nodded tightly, not trusting myself to speak just yet – pain was still washing through my shoulder, and I thought I might make a funny noise if I tried right now.

Sides was quiet for a moment, and then spoke softly. "Sorry – didn't mean to bash you into a wall."

I shook my head, and then spoke, waving my right arm to emphasize my point – the left hurt too much. "No, no, I wasn't hurt, don't worry about it!"

"You don't have to lie – I really didn't mean to hurt you."

"I'm okay now," I said, trying my best to sound assertive and make him realize that smashing my shoulder on a wall was no big deal for me.

He took my right arm and led me to sit down. I sat, and tried to resist the urge to rub my shoulder with my hand.

This class was math, and it seemed entirely useless. I couldn't use a calculator with any degree of accuracy, nor feel what it said. Sides sat beside me, and was even more restless than in the other class. Almost like he was going to vibrate out of his skin.

I almost felt like something was bothering him. What that would be, I had no idea.

After an eternity, with me smirking and trying to hide it, and Sides being the noisiest person in the class, the bell rang.

About half a millisecond later, he was hauling me out of the room. The room was entirely silent still – no one else had even moved yet.

Hopefully he grabbed my backpack in his hurry.

Once in the hall, he was speed-walking quickly, nearly dragging me down the floor.

"Holy – what's the rush?"

He stopped, but seemed really twitchy. "Nothing – I just don't want to be here. It's lunch-time, let's go!"

I smiled. "So impatient," I scolded. "I need to go to the bathroom first, and maybe eat, then we'll go, okay?"

He sighed in exasperation. "You humans are so needy."

I rolled my eyes, and looked where I thought he was, according to the voice.

"The faster I finish these things, the quicker you get out of here, you know?"

Instantly, he was dragging me down the hall, muttering things under his breath again. These things he spoke quietly enough that I didn't hear them.

He finally stopped, and pushed me forwards, relinquishing his grip on my wrist. I rubbed it briefly, and then moved forwards, hands outstretched. I slipped into the stall, locking it. Then I listened for Sides to leave…which he didn't seem to be doing…

I heard Sides turn on the taps, and spoke to him, embarrassed. "Um…this is the girls' bathroom…"

"And?"

He must be from outer space. Seriously. Did he actually think I was going to pee with him standing right there!? No way.

"Leave!" I hissed, feeling annoyed and embarrassed.

He muttered. "Humans are so fragging weird – and disgusting to boot." I heard his footsteps outside the room, and the door finally opened and closed. I sighed, and went about my business. His comments about humans being disgusting didn't bother me at all. He wasn't meaning it to be hurtful. How I knew that, I wasn't sure.

Someone opened the bathroom door then, and I heard a whole bunch of voices come in.

They were feminine, so I zipped up my jeans, tried to straighten my shirt, and came out, moving forwards. I bumped into someone.

"Sorry," I murmured.

She shoved me. I barreled backwards, arms flailing.

"Don't touch me, freak!" The voices were familiar – the same girls that Sides had given a detention.

Hurt lanced through me, along with a sliver of anger. I didn't say anything. I moved forwards again, trying to get to the sink and wash my hands, so I could leave.

She shoved me again, hitting my sore shoulder. I winced, right hand coming up to clasp the throbbing area. It was still sore from when Sides had accidentally run me into a wall.

I glared. "Hey!"

She sneered. "Poor, injured, Alex – everyone falling over themselves to help."

I swallowed, hurt racing through me. Even though I barely knew her, she was so mean! "I'm only here for a few days. It's not like I'm even doing anything!"

"Then why are you here? Oh, wait, I know. So that you can play the pity card, and have everyone to pamper you."

"I'm not doing that. I told you, I'm only here for a few days!" I pushed through them, and turned on the water, washing quickly. I just wanted to leave. My anger was also growing.

"Why?"

"Personal reasons." Even as I said it, I knew that it wouldn't pacify her in the slightest. "Look, I'm only here for a few more days, and then I'm gone. Off to learn braille. So, just, leave me alone!" I snapped at her.

There was some rustling of clothing, and then she spoke. Her voice was angry sounding, like someone had slipped her a lemon in the middle of her cereal. "Stay out of my way."

I was annoyed, and it showed in what I said. "Well, if I could see, I'd have no problem with that, would I?"

"Stop playing the sympathy card – I'm not going to fall for it."

My temper boiled over. I snapped at them, nearly shouting in my anger. "I'm never going to see again, you arrogant, vindictive, jealous harpies! I'm never going to drive, or go to movies, or put on makeup or decide what to wear, or even see the faces people are making at me! I can't get a job at a simple place like McDonalds, or become whatever I want to! I'm never going to be beautiful, never going to be able to see a sunset, a picture, new places. I'm trapped in the dark, lost in everlasting night, trapped in my own personal blankness. And I fucking hate it! I hate it with my whole being, everything in me!

"So you think you have it rough, that the hot new TA doesn't even give you the time of day? Well, suck it up, because I'd trade anything to have your petty little lives in a heartbeat. You want to live my life, babied and coddled by the TA? Lose something important to you – like your tongue. At least then you wouldn't pierce eardrums when you talked!"

I heard some gasps and outraged whispers, but I was done with the high-school scene. So done with all the immature, spoiled girls, filled with petty wishes and desires.

I wanted to storm off, but it was much less dramatic than I had hoped. I used my hand against the wall to walk off, clutching my pack tightly to refrain from breaking into tears or shouting at them some more.

Sides was directly outside the bathroom. "What happened?" he asked, probably noting my balled fists and red face. He probably heard me too.

"Just some jerks in the bathroom."

"If you let them get to you-"

"I know! But I can't just let them call me a whore, purely on the basis that you drove me to school, and followed me around for these two days! I'm sick and tired of feeling weak, and I just want to go back to the way I was, but I know I never will!" I was still upset, so my voice came out a lot louder than I wanted.

A few moments later, I was a bit calmer. Sides hadn't said anything, which was probably a good thing.

"Sorry," I muttered. "I didn't mean to snap on you."

After a moment, Sides spoke. "Drive?"

I nodded, my head down.

His arm wrapped around my shoulders, escorting me out. That same warmth in my chest bloomed.

We walked out the car, and I slipped inside. The door came down, and I clipped the seatbelt on. He backed out, and immediately, my brain felt more at peace, more at ease.

Into the silence, I asked, "Why were you so twitchy in math? Besides being bored – it felt like something was bothering you."

Immediately, I felt like I shouldn't have asked – he was just going to think me nosy, and tell me to mind my own business.

"I don't like feeling useless."

"Math makes you feel useless?" I asked, curious to what he meant and grateful that he hadn't scoffed at my question.

"Useless in general – I could be doing so much more right now."

A sting hit me. "Sorry," I muttered, trying for sarcasm, but the hurt leaked through.

"What? Oh, no, not you – I could be fighting off…um…wait, forget I said that."

"You are way too obsessed with that game – I'm sure your team or guild or whatever will be okay with you taking a night off."

He laughed heavily. "Actually, they might think I took off for the other team, or was…dead…"

My eyebrows raised. "Your team doesn't trust you much, huh? Nor do they have faith in your abilities to um…fight off opposing teams…" I felt so weird saying that out loud.

He snickered. "No one doubts my abilities – I'm the best! But they might be a little excited if I didn't communicate with them during the day."

"You have a really intense team. Sheesh."

"Yeah, you could say that. Now, enough talking, let's drive!"

I shook my head immediately, ignoring the thrill of excitement in my stomach.

"I thought it through during class, and I can't, with the input of my conscience, I just cannot do it. The chance of crashing is too high, as well as the risk of-"

"Primus, I want you to drive, I abstain you from all legal repercussions, yada yada yada, all that – now drive!"

The door opened, he pulled me out (granted, I put up little to no struggle), and hustled me around the car, hands on my shoulders to propel me forwards.

I slipped into the driver's side, still muttering about how dumb this was, how I was going to kill us both, and trying to warn him that I might upchuck all over the insides of his car.

The little warm thrill in my stomach didn't go away though; rather it grew as I curled my fingers around the steering wheel, nearly caressing it. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed driving, how the feel of a slick leather seat under me felt. The roar of the engine, power directly controlled by me, purred around me, making me feel heady with emotions.

It would be a toss-up of bursting into tears from the experience or vomiting all over the insides due to nervousness that I would crash.

The car moved as I rubbed the leather seat and moved it closer to the steering wheel. Sides' voice came to me again, and the doors whined shut. I assumed he had a button for that on his side.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Hit it!"

I mock-glared over in his direction. "I'm just…enjoying the feel of quality here, sheesh. Don't rush me, gamer."

He snickered. "Yeah, it is top quality – the best of the best! The fastest!"

Wryly, I spoke. "Well, we won't be hitting any top speeds with a blind girl driving, I can tell you that."

"You'd be surprised – one hundred feels like twenty in this baby."

"Uh huh." Well, he was enthusiastic, I'd give him that. He wouldn't be so happy when I gave him back a few hunks of chewed-up metal, from after I had finished driving it.

I pulled my seatbelt on, and warned him to do the same. I didn't hear the noise, but ignored it. If he wanted to go flying, it wasn't my problem.

I took a deep breath, and was about to tap the pedal when I froze. "Wait! Where are we? Any hapless pedestrians to worry about? Metal buildings to get close and friendly with?"

The car shuddered – I assumed he must be having a fit beside me. His laughter burst out. "No, no humans or buildings about. It's Nevada – all flat. And I managed to find a really flat and large strip of asphalt, perfect for you!"

I nodded, taking this in and taking a deep breath. I held it. My toe inched out again, and pressed the brake pedal down, trying to shift to drive. Sides reached over, and pressed my hand to the shift, making me move it backwards, in between us. I gingerly released the brake pedal, expecting the car to roll forwards a little bit, like my other one did.

Nothing happened. I took another deep breath, and pressed the gas down with the tip of one toe.

The car shot forwards, with a massive roar of the engine. I shrieked, slamming on the brakes and grabbing the wheel with both hands.

"Holy sh-! What the hell was that!"

He was nearly in stitches beside me, laughing his guts out. I heard him pounding his hand on the dashboard, laughing hysterically.

I pushed my hand that way, glaring. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I was nearly hyperventilating.

He was still snickering. "It…has some kick to it…"

"'Some kick,' he says," I muttered, both hands clenched on the wheel again. "More like a rocket. What in the world do you feed this car? Steroids?"

Still snickering, he answered through his chuckles. "Something like that."

I was about two seconds from getting out of the car, and just calling it quits. Get him to take me home, and lying on the couch like a potato.

"Try again – only, don't put so much into it," he urged, still sounding amused.

"I barely tapped it last time, and it nearly went into orbit!" I retorted. Nonetheless, I reached out one foot and touched the gas. Nothing happened. I breathed out, breathed in again, and pressed a little bit harder. The car rolled forwards a little bit, and I immediately hit the brakes.

Sides groaned from beside me. "Kill the brakes, why don't you?"

"Hey, you didn't have to let me drive – let me do it!"

"I wouldn't have much of an issue if we were actually moving."

"Yeah, well, I happen to just like the sound of the engine," I said, still holding on to the wheel. It felt like a wild animal in my hands, nearly vibrating with contained power and readiness to just _go_.

"It does sound nice, doesn't it?" He sounded like a love-struck girl.

I rolled my eyes. I let go of the brake, and immediately, the car started to roll forwards. Another squeak, and I hit the brake again.

He groaned. "Alex, you're killing me here. Just…go!"

"Ha!" I snorted from the driver's seat, fingers clenched on the wheel. I was sure my knuckles were white. "I can't see, and you want me to just, step on it?"

"Sure!" He sounded so excited.

"You have a death wish?" I muttered.

"Nope!" Still excited.

"You must be insane." I said calmly. "I'm driving with an insane TA who has the shortest attention span on the planet. I'm going to die."

He snickered. "So dramatic – you won't die, femme. Primus."

I shrugged, letting go of my inhibitions with this whole driving thing. "Okay – just remember that you asked for this."

I stepped on the gas, hard. He whooped from beside me, sounding excited. "Now we're getting somewhere! Faster!"

That was the only explanation. He was crazy.

I turned slightly to the left, and enjoyed the smooth feel, the sound of the engine growling with effort. It sounded like it could go more.

I pressed down harder, and the growl increased in sound and deepened in pitch. A small grin split my face.

There was something about an absolutely insane, totally crazy thing like driving a car worth more than my house while being completely blind and having a crazy man in the seat as the one to guide you that made the whole thing feel normal.

It was surreal. I loved it.

Sides rolled down the windows, and let the wind blow into the car. I turned to the right, and smashed my foot against the gas. The engine roared, screaming out more speed.

I whooped, and Sides snickered. "Atta girl!"

I barreled down the asphalt, feeling the car twist and turn as I turned the wheel.

"I'm pretty sure you could drive down main street – you're a natural!"

"Are you insane!?" I shouted at him. "I'd crash within seconds!"

"Nah, you'd be fine!" he yelled back, sounding like he was outside. The wind was noisy in the car, making my hair whip around and come out of my ponytail and fly around my face.

"Left! Left!" he yelled, and I cranked the wheel left, thinking that I was about to smash into a tree or go flying off a cliff or something horrendous.

The car swirled tightly, wheels never leaving the ground. He whooped, and I tried to straighten out so that we were going back the way we had come. I had no idea though – I had no idea which way was which.

"Great! Now give it more gas!"

I barely heard him over the wind, but managed to press down even more firmly on the gas, heart pounding in my chest. My shoulder hurt from the strength of my hold on the steering wheel.

Sides was still whooping a while later, once I started to slow the car down.

Once I was barely moving, I marvelled to him. "Wow – that was great! You must have found the biggest pad of asphalt in all of Nevada."

"Nah – there's a larger one north of here, about three hundred miles."

I blinked. "Oh…How do you know that?"

"Useless facts – what can I say?"

"Well, it came in handy here," I said softly, feeling my heart still pound heavily. "That was fantastic…thank you so much for that…"

"Don't mention it, it was the least I could do." To my shock, he sounded almost…guilty?

I shook my head immediately. "No, the least you could have done would be to ignore me entirely."

"True."

"I think your car is possessed," I informed him, swiftly changing the subject – the air in the car felt too heavy. I was still touching the wheel. "Sometimes it's like it moves on its own – you should get that looked at."

"Luckily, I have someone looking at it later on today," he promised.

"This has been great…these two days have been the most fun and yet, peaceful days I've had in a long time."

After a pause, he spoke quietly. "Me too." His voice sounded slightly surprised.

We switched places in the car, and he drove me home.

I was content to sit in the front seat and just listen to the engine. After a while, it slowed, and stopped.

I took off my seatbelt, and then spoke softly. "Today was my last day – I'm so done with high school. All the freaking drama – I don't need that."

"That works out pretty well then, because Mr. Driffen is better now – apparently, he had a stomach flu – and I'm done too."

"Well, it was nice meeting you – you really helped me out, Sides. Although you are still pretty weird."

"You're pretty strange yourself."

We sat there for a few seconds, and then my stomach growled heavily. I blushed a little, and laughed. I was so upset with those girls, and then so excited at driving, I forgot to eat. "Well, I guess that's my cue to leave.

I felt along the side for a button to get the car to open. Sides spoke, guiding my fingers.

I tapped the button, and felt the door rise.

As I got out, and grabbed my pack, I spoke to him, possibly for the last time ever. "Thanks…for everything."

I got out, and walked up to my front door, opening it quickly.

Shutting the door, I leaned against it until I heard him drive away.

A smile curled my lips at the memory of driving the sleek machine.

Until a thought hit me. I stood up straighter, with a jerk.

That had been so illegal – I hadn't had my license on me, but I was pretty sure that there was a law against blind people driving. Oh yeah, since you had to have an eye test before and now I was legally blind, I really shouldn't have done that. Did they imprison blind people for driving? Was I going to jail?

"This is what you get for being stupid," I muttered into the air.

* * *

"_You are never, ever putting me in a high school again! I _will_ join the Decepticons if you do!"_

Ratchet's voice came through._ "What the slag were you doing in a human school in the first place?"_

"_It was terrible! So boring!" _Sideswipe whined.

"_Your mission was to watch her, not infiltrate the school and give the other teacher's assistant diarrhea," _Ratchet scolded._ "You could have just watched her from outside, like you were supposed to! And direct contact? What in the Pit were you thinking? Oh, that's right – you weren't! What if your holoform had disintegrated in the middle of a class? How would you explain that, your gaming again? You're just lucky she's so gullible. I ought to make a permanent dent in your helm for being so stupid!_

"_Though I do have to thank you for the scans you got when she was in your alt-mode. She appears to have another tiny sliver of metal embedded right below and behind her heart. Strange that human scanning didn't pick it up…"_

"_So, she has _another _piece of my frame in her? Is that healthy?"_

Ratchet's voice was distracted, presumably due to looking at his scans that Sideswipe had sent earlier. Thankfully, he was off the aft-kicking…for now._ "Hmmm, it looks like she's fine other than…slight residual readings of energon radiation and poisoning, but with the antidote I administered, she'll be fine."_

"_Is she going to be fine with the extra metal in her? That's not normal for humans, right?" _Sideswipe pressed, feeling protective of the femme. She had been injured due to him and Barricade, the fragger, and he had been watching over her for more than a month now – he was slightly invested in her future now, or at least, her health in the near future. It would have been a waste of his time if she picked now to offline, after he'd spent so much time looking after her, albeit in a roundabout, stalker-ish fashion.

_ "Yes, Sideswipe, she should be fine. Now get your aft back here and into my med bay – I want to check those welds and how your protoform is healing after that altercation with Barricade."_

Prime's regal voice cut into the comm. link._ "Sideswipe – you have completed your mission of watching her, report back to base."_

"_Prime, this human won't survive on her own – she's so trusting!"_

_ "We cannot interfere, and since she doesn't remember us, her life will not be negatively impacted."_

_ "But…the energon reading I get from her-"_

Ratchet cut in._ "Will be gone by tomorrow morning – I calculated how much was in her and how long to metabolize. It will be gone tomorrow."_

_ "Her family is a strong support, and she is strong herself. She will survive without your assistance, Sideswipe. I am glad to see you taking an interest in what we are doing here though."_

The silver Autobot sighed._ "Fine. I'm on my way back – but the next mission better be something with some fight to it!"_

* * *

AN: Yes, I realize she was annoyed and upset very quickly, but she has been through a lot, and sometimes snapping at people is the fastest way to release emotions – not healthiest, but it could happen. And does all the time.

Also, this chapter, once I read it over, again, is pretty much straight-out fluff... Or the closest I ever get to fluff. But there was some plot points. Anyone catch any?


	6. Scientia

**Chapter 6: Scientia**

(Latin: _knowledge_)

* * *

AN: Thanks for all the feedback, guys! And someone is introduced in this chappie that I think you guys'll like. :) Hmmm…this chapter is a little shorter (5k), but that was all I had planned for this chapter! It isn't my fault that the other chapters became monsters at 8k! Then again, some of the later chapters might end up being huge...

* * *

Terms: A hic is about a kilometer. According to The Magnificent Six!... which is around 0.62 miles. So, not very far.

* * *

**1 YEAR LATER**

* * *

The thin man clapped his colleague on the shoulder, staring at the screen. The screen cast an eerie glow on to his face.

"And you are sure about this?"

The portly man at the computer nodded once. "Absolutely, sir. We've been hacked again, by a…" He checked the hacker's code name. "_Scientia. _This time, they made it through nearly all the data before we managed to chase them out."

Clapping the man at the computer once on the shoulder, he smirked. "Cute. Another amateur hacker. Trying to sound clever. A failed venture, _knowledge_." His teeth gleamed in the light from the monitor.

"Yes sir," the portly man muttered, feeling uneasy being this close to Q.

"Check what other data this _Scientia_ has gotten to, and report back to me."

"Yes, sir."

He paced away from the computer, going over to another screen, addressing a slender man dressed in a military uniform. "The leak will have to be plugged, immediately."

"Yes, sir. Who do you want to send out?"

"Send out Squad 2 – with the orders to neutralize, use of force is sanctioned. Standard precautions apply."

"Yes sir." The slender man turned to go and give out the orders, but the other man spoke again. He turned to get the rest of the orders.

"And tell them to use as much discretion as possible – after all, Sector Seven was shut down months ago. Nothing to link to us."

"Of course, sir."

* * *

My eyes popped open when Macy rubbed her head on my arm. I smiled, half upset with myself for even the slightest expectation to _see_, and half used to the darkness that greeted me when my eyes opened,.

"Hey, gorgeous lady – ready for another exciting day in the life of Alexandra Wells?"

Her tail thumped on the ground, and I took that as confirmation that she agreed. I lifted my head from the pillow, and immediately winced as my head throbbed. My headaches had been getting progressively worse, and no amount of medication seemed to help.

I had been to the doctor, and they had stated some junk about post-traumatic stress disorder, and how they should resolve themselves, since there was no logical reason for the pain I was feeling. At all.

Cradling my face in my hand, I used my left hand to press myself up, and then stretched, ignoring the bolt of pain from my chest, shoulder and head.

That was normal now.

Macy's claws clicked on the flooring, and she whined lightly.

"I'm okay, girl, I just need to…sit for a moment." After a minute, the buzzing in my head dimmed to a low throb, enough so that I could mostly function.

"I bet you want your breakfast, huh?"

A low tail thump on the floor again.

I smiled, and ruffled her ears. I pulled my housecoat on, and slippers as well. Right now, I was still adjusting to the braille texts I had to read, and working on improving my skills at math and science stuff. At the moment, physics was still out of my grasp. Too much theoretical.

Jace was clicking downstairs when I got there after navigating the stairs with ease. "Good morning," I commented, smiling in his direction.

"Well, aren't we chipper today?" His voice was grumpy.

I snickered. "What, the morning rays too much for your vampire tendencies?"

"No, this coding is turning out to be a nightmare. I've tracked this guy across Russia now about three times – he's slick."

"And why are you chasing him again?" I rummaged in the cupboard, pulling out a box of cereal – Just Right if I remembered correctly, and no one had moved it from last time. I sniffed the top. Yeah, that was definitely Just Right. Grabbing a bowl, I moved to the fridge, and snatched out the milk. It was well known in our house to have the milk on the right side now - I'd knocked a platter of meats and cheeses across the floor before we go that all sorted out.

"I'm chasing him for my employer - he stole something from the boss' files, and I'm supposed to figure out his real IP address."

My left hand dug into the cutlery drawer, searching for a spoon. "Uh huh. That's great."

I mixed the cereal in the bowl, and poured some milk in, careful to not overfill it by putting my finger in the bowl to judge how much milk I had poured in.

My dog's toes clicked on the floor, and I smiled in that direction.

Placing the bowl on the counter carefully, I reached into a lower cupboard, and dished out Macy's food carefully, picking up the dish from the floor. She waited until I placed it on the floor, and said, "Okay," before eating. I picked up her water dish, and emptied it into the sink. I refilled it, and placed it back down on the floor in its designated spot.

Collecting my cereal again, I sat at the table and enjoyed the flavor.

My head throbbed again, and I rubbed my temple absently with my left hand, relishing in the painless feel of movement.

I had finished my physiotherapy for my left arm only a week ago.

I felt a lot more capable than a year ago. Sure, I still cried over my loss once in a while, but I had settled on just living. Not being thankful for still living, still merely existing.

The accident had cost me my life. Or, rather, what would have been. That was over, and now, I was alright with that. On most days, at least.

I still had to figure out what I wanted to do, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. Nothing seemed to fit, nothing seemed to really scream out, "That's me, that's what I want to do!"

Once in a while, I still felt like I was being watched. But I wasn't sure if that was just my paranoia or if people really were watching. I would be pretty strange to look at, I had to admit that. But sometimes, it was while I was alone in my room, when the guy across my street would have that fancy car owner over, and the engine would rumble, that I felt weird. Like, shivers down the spine and eyes throbbing sort of weird. When I felt like that, I'd childishly close my window curtains, and hide in my closet. Macy would always join me, and place her warm head in my lap. That helped, a lot.

Mom came bustling into the kitchen, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "Morning."

I mumbled a greeting into my slightly-soggy cereal, and Jace made an agreeing noise.

"Alex, why don't you invite Liam over for supper?"

"I would, Mom, but he's at Stanford. Which is, like, two hundred and fifty miles."

"Oh, right. I always forget – what's he taking again?"

"Engineering. Full scholarship," I muttered into my cereal, feeling a slight pain go through me.

We'd fallen apart after I got out of the hospital. He'd never apologized for calling me weak and a coward, and I wasn't going to apologize for my slight nosiness. Somehow, it had all fallen apart, over that simple, stupid argument.

They way I'd seen it, we were both at fault - and just for once I didn't feel like being the mature, grown-up one. After that, it had seemed too late - _my_ Liam was gone.

When I'd spoken to him again, it was like he was gone. My Liam, the one I liked, had disappeared into a moody, ungrateful, sarcastic, jerk. I'd stormed out of his house with tears in my eyes, nearly dragging Jace (who I'd forced to drive me) out to his car. I hadn't really seen him since then, and Mom didn't know the specifics of our falling out.

After a while, my feelings had faded. What was that saying? Something about distance, and hearts... I pondered as I munched through the slightly-soggy cereal. _Distance makes the heart grow fonder._ Well, not in Liam's case.

I had too much going on at the moment to retain that feeling for him - I had needed some time to _me, _to focus on _me._ And my brain had eventually stopped liking him. A few more not-so-pleasant meetings had helped the shrivelling feelings immensely.

I didn't like him in a romantic sense anymore – but I did miss my best friend. The one I'd play games with, and tease when he won, the one who would smile, ever so faintly when I'd buy him a cup of over-priced coffee that he loved, but refused to buy on principle of it being too expensive. Or the gleam in his eyes when I'd present him with an interesting puzzle, one that nearly made his fingers twitch to try and solve.

Shouting at the screen while watching football, and have him roll his eyes, sitting sedately. The one strand of hair that always fell in his face while he worked, that he could never get to stay up. Those dark eyes, focused directly on me when I spoke.

A lurch in my chest made me pause in eating my cereal, before resuming. I blinked back the heavy feeling behind my eyes - must be that headache. Yup. I was completely over him, my brain knew that.

A tiny voice whispered, _but does your heart know?_

I forced the feeling away, concentrating on the cereal.

Mom was silent, but still making a little bit of noise while sipping her black coffee. The smell of the hot brew filled the room, mixing with my cereal smell in my nose.

She spoke absently, after a pause.

"That's too bad – I'm making roast beef tonight, and I know he loves that."

I made a vague sound. I was pretty sure mom had an idea that we'd had a falling out, but she was still hoping for Liam as a son-in-law. I couldn't see that happening any time soon. Another slight lurch in my chest.

Then again, who knew? The world was a strange place.

"Alex, I'm going grocery shopping today – do you and Macy want to come?"

At her name, the golden retriever's tail thumped against the ground once.

"Sure, not doing anything else today."

"Wonderful – we'll go around ten, how does that sound?"

I nodded, agreeable. Perhaps I was pathetic, still living at home, and going out grocery shopping with my parents.

But I didn't have any other close friends – Liam had been primarily it.

High school was done, and I hadn't _clicked_ with any of the other blind people in my small school. I couldn't connect with any of them on a personal level – how did some people end up having so many friends? Were some people simply less compatible with others?

Perhaps I was just a weird person?

Sometimes, I wished that I hadn't lost that little number that Sides had given me. But the paper was gone, and it was useless to look for it.

Then, in the next instance, I would be thankful that I had lost it, otherwise I would have called the guy at least ten times by now. Which would have been annoying for him.

To shake myself out of my reminiscing, I spoke. "Jace, don't you have class today?"

"Yeah, at two."

"What time is it now?"

Mom answered. "Around nine, love."

I nodded, and then lifted my cereal bowl up and placed it into the sink. Macy's toenails clicked. I knew that she'd follow me upstairs.

Moving up the stairs confidently, I strode into my room, and grabbed necessary toiletries from my closet, second shelf, right. I always left them in the same place, to make it easier.

Grabbing my towel from the rack, and a cloth, I also snagged the shampoo bottle, and conditioner.

Sliding into the shower was easy now – no bruises, or bumps. I would have been shocked if I had hit something. Right now, I knew that I had enough space to turn on the right side and place my stuff on the small shelf in the shower.

I stripped off my clothes after locking the door, and turned the shower head on, all the way to the left. Hot water streamed out, and I washed quickly. This bottle of shampoo appeared to be kiwi and mango – an interesting combination but it smelled nice.

Each time I ran out, I had mom point me in the direction of the bottles, and I would grab a random one. It made life a little more interesting.

Once, I had grabbed this really bizarre chocolate-smelling shampoo. I didn't like that smell much, but thankfully I hadn't gotten that particular one again.

I finished quickly, and got dressed. Throwing my wash cloth into the bin, I moved into my room, rubbing my head with the towel before combing it out swiftly and throwing it into a ponytail. I hooked Macy into the harness.

She rubbed her head against my leg, and I smiled, affectionately rubbing the spot behind her left ear that she just loved.

The dog leaned into the touch.

Once I was done with my shower, Mom was whisking us out, into the car. She must not be planning on buying a whole bunch of groceries then - if she was, she'd have taken Jace for cart-pushing.

We drove to the store, listening to strange music on the radio. Mom liked bluegrass and jazz – some of the worst music, in my opinion. Then again, I liked classical and rock, and classic rock. Not a very normal combo (other than the rock and classical rock).

We walked into the store, Mom pushing the cart, me following Macy who was following Mom.

People were strange. They acted really odd around me. We went into the store, and I immediately listened for little children. When I went to the store with my mom for grocery shopping, the little kids were the tended to be the ones who could make me break down and cry - the innocent ones who wished I'd 'get better soon' down to the mean ones. Their innocently hurtful comments still stung, even a year after losing my vision.

"Mommy – that girl's eyes are all red." "Look – her burns are ugly." "Mommy, that girl scares me."

The parent's responses were the typical "Shh, honey, don't be mean."

Once in a while though, you'd get on parent that was really out to hurt, or having a bad day. Like now. Mom was in the bathroom, and I was leaning against the wall, playing with Macy's ear. She was pressed up against my side tightly.

Someone was tugging on my shirt. The small footsteps stopped when the child got close to me on the right, and look down to where the child must be.

"Yes?"

A few seconds, and then a sniffle. They started to cry. I swallowed, and turned back around. Someone grabbed my shoulder, and I winced, trying to keep the tears out of my eyes.

"Hey, you jackass, you made my kid cry!"

Mom was still in the bathroom. I wished she'd come out – I wasn't sure that I'd be able to keep from crying myself. This wasn't the first time I'd made a child cry, and it didn't get easier. But usually the parents weren't so rude about it.

"I can't do anything about the way I look," I muttered in the direction of his angry voice, sending a silent plea for mom to _'hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!'_

"Do us all a favor and don't come places like this then!"

I was hurt, and annoyed. "I can't help the way I look, and I have just as much right to be here as you do."

"You monster! You like making kids cry!"

It was almost enough to make me break down into tears. But I wouldn't.

Macy barked once, and I clenched a fist. The hurt was overshadowed by fast-swelling anger. "Do I look like a psychopath to you? I don't like making kids cry."

"Then why did you make Kayla cry, you freak?!"

I was mad. My fists were clenched. "I cannot help the way I look. I cannot see. I am aware I have scars on my arms, face, back, torso, and neck. I am aware that my eyes are red and white. What I don't need are ignorant blockheads like you being confrontational about something that I cannot change!"

There was an odd noise, and warm wetness trailed down my face. "You fucking monster!"

The man stormed away, dragging the still-wailing Kayla after him. I raised a hand to my face. "Did he just…spit on me?"

Disgust curled my lips as I wiped off what I could feel. The adrenaline and anger rushed out of me, and I sagged against the shopping cart. "Why… why are people so mean?" I asked quietly. Macy laid her head against my knees, and whined.

The bathroom door opened then, and Mom came out. "Alex? What's wrong, honey?"

I straightened and shook my head. "Nothing." Forcing a chipper tone into my voice, I spoke. "Well, those peppers won't pick themselves! Let's go!"

I moved down the aisle, remembering that I needed to turn left at the end to reach the fresh produce. Mom didn't comment, and I made sure to stay bright and animated so she wouldn't suspect that I was close to breaking down into tears. _Freak. Monster._

We finished shopping, and I helped load up the car. No one else had bothered me.

Once back in the house, I helped carry the bags inside, and then unhooked Macy from the harness. She trotted around in the house, nails clicking on the floor.

Jace was still at the table, tapping at his laptop.

I tried to help as much as I could, identifying objects by feel, and placing the incident out of my mind. Moving all the fruit to the appropriate place, I tripped over a bag of cans, bruising my toes and landing on my knees and hands. The apples scattered.

Mom fretted. "Oh, honey, sorry! I forgot to place that bag on the table!"

I felt around for the apples, locating two. I stood, and I shook my head, placing the apples on the counter by the bananas. "No sweat – I barely nicked them." And I wiggled my toes in their socks for emphasis, sticking one leg out.

"Klutz," Jace muttered from the table.

"Gamer," I retorted, a warm glow in my chest from his worry.

My head pounded again, and I gasped, one hand going up to rub at the spot, right at the temples. My eyes ached, and my scars itched.

"Are you alright, Alex?"

"Yeah, just a headache," I said lightly, trying not to show how much pain my head was in. "Must have smacked it when I fell."

I heard her collect the rest of the apples, and I helped unpack the rest of the stuff. The man at the store rose to my mind again, and I breathed out shakily.

I needed to go out, and think.

We went back downstairs, and I put on a pair of sneakers. "Mom, Macy and I are going out for a walk – we'll be back soon."

Macy's body language changed when I said walk. She wiggled a little, and I could hear her panting. We walked into the warm morning, and turned left at the corner. That way we could walk on a trail that would take us nearly back to our house again in about forty-five minutes. Perfect. I needed to just walk, and forget everything. Maybe have a good cry.

I walked a lot.

We moved down the street, Macy keeping me on the sidewalk, and then hesitated when we got to the path.

I signalled her to turn, and she did so quickly. The path felt slightly sticky – it had rained last night. I had woken up to the pattering of drops against my window. I stopped at a point that had a large rock – which I knew from walking into it a few times, and from when I could still see.

I dropped her harness, knowing that she'd stick around, and swallowed heavily, feeling the tears come.

More pain spiked my shoulder and chest, and I gasped once. Tears fell, and I leaned against the stone, sobbing loudly.

The man's words went through my mind, and a fresh batch of tears escaped. I had thought that words couldn't hurt me anymore, but I had been wrong. Words were powerful, and lethal.

My headache intensified, and I knew that crying wouldn't help the pain at all, would merely worsen it. But I couldn't help it – I needed to cry, and let it all out.

This was my place. I cried here whenever I needed to.

No one could find me here; no one would judge me for being weak here. I was safe – this was my spot. My sanctuary from the world.

We walked the whole path, me breathing in the warm morning air. I felt much better, but I still had that odd sense of doom, like I was going to fall to pieces pretty soon, or that something else was going to happen to me. Something bad.

* * *

We were all sitting down for supper when Macy whined once, lowly – the rest of my family wouldn't have heard her. I felt much better after my cry, yet that feeling of doom remained, like someone was just waiting to strike, and the feeling was getting stronger.

A few seconds later, I heard someone coming up the sidewalk, feet crunching. I could also hear something at the back of the house. It sounded too large for a cat.

"Dad – someone's at the door," I murmured, stabbing my fork into the plate in front of me that Mom had filled up. It smelled delicious. I had been salivating all day over the smell of this stuff – roast beef and peas, with milk.

The noise of Dad getting up to answer the door was loud to my sensitive ears. I took a single bite, eyes closed in ecstasy over the taste.

Absolutely delicious.

Since my accident, my other senses had become so much more sensitive – and taste had definitely been affected. Luckily, Mom was a great cook.

I hummed my appreciation for the meal, smiling where I knew that Mom was sitting.

My head lifted a little more when I heard the person at the door. _"Sir, is this the residence of the Wells family?"_

_ "Yes, who are you?"_

_ "I'm with the police – we have a warrant to inspect your home."_

"Who is it, George?" Mom called out

"Some police guy," I muttered. Jace's fork hit the table with a clunk. Reflexively, my eyes flashed to the noise.

"What are they saying?" he asked me, voice intent. My eyebrows furrowed slightly at his odd tone.

"They have a warrant, he's coming in."

Immediately, there was a screech from the other side of the table as Jace's chair was pushed back, scraping across the hardwood loudly. I winced, head pounding from the overly loud noise.

"Jace?" I asked.

"I'll be back in a minute – got to check something." His voice was tight and I detected a shard of fear underlying the false ease.

Mom didn't seem to catch it, but she stood from the table, and moved to the front door. I sat at the table, listening.

_"We've received reports that your son has been hacking the government, and as such, we'll have to take all of you in for questioning."_

My eyes widened. Jace had been hacking the government? What the heck had he been doing? Why were all of us being taken in? They didn't suspect all of us of hacking? Heck, I couldn't even _use_ a computer properly for hacking.

_"We are also going to conduct a thorough search of your house."_

Dad sounded annoyed, and slightly scared. _"You can't just barge into my house."_

_ "Sorry sir, but the law is the law."_

_ "The law does not condone the forceful removal of families from their homes!"_

There was a loud thump, and Mom's voice suddenly was scared. _"George! What did you do to him!?" _

Another thump, and Mom was silent as well. I gulped, breathing heavily. My head throbbed.

Should I run upstairs? Try to go out the back? What could I do? I felt useless.

Was this really the government? Since when had they been knocking people out and breaking into houses? Were these terrorists?

This couldn't possibly be for driving blind, could it? I mean, no one knew that.

I almost slapped myself for being ridiculous. The police wouldn't do this for driving blind. Unless they thought I killed Sides or something. But no – they had said they were here for Jace.

There was some noise in the entry, and booted feet clumping on the floor. A lot of booted feet.

Fear blossomed in my chest. What in blue blazes had Jace done? What had happened to my parents? They didn't have to take all of us. Although, I didn't see how he had done anything all that bad – he was just my gamer brother, with less sense than he should possess, and more love for computer challenges than anyone I'd ever seen. Well…knew. Not seen.

Mom wasn't making any noise in the entry-way.

I stayed at the table, rubbing Macy's head, fear pounding through me. My head ached harshly. The golden retriever was growling lowly, threateningly.

People streamed into the kitchen, making lots of noise. My head throbbed.

Someone grabbed my left shoulder, and I yelped. Macy growled loudly. I rubbed her head with my other hand, trying to ignore the pain of my shoulder.

The man holding my shoulder was fiddling with something, and then he pulled it out. A shrill beeping filled the air, and I winced. Macy growled again, sensing my discomfort.

There was also the beeping coming from the living room, but not as shrilly or quickly as the one in here. The man breathed in a quick hiss of air.

Then he spoke into a radio, presumably, as I heard a small click and static.

"Sir! Direct contact of alpha-sierra-four confirmed!"

A quick hiss, an intake of breath, and then: "Alright, people, you know the drill – take 'em!"

Noises surrounded me. "Check the back! One to four, check upstairs! Five to seven with me on extraction! Eight to twelve, main floor! Thirteen to sixteen, basement! Seventeen, make this family disappear, now! Let's get this wrapped up!"

I swallowed, adrenaline pounding through me. This sounded really official, and dangerous. Surely, this wasn't the government. Surely, when he said "make this family disappear," he didn't mean it…literally?

I wasn't sure anymore.

The person hanging on to my arm dragged me out of my seat.

"Hey!" I protested. "What's going on?"

"We will inform you when we reach our destination."

I could feel Macy's comforting presence on my side as I was speed-walked out the front door, only stopping to shove my feet into a pair of sneakers. Her toenails clicked on the floor, a sharp contrast to the booted thuds coming from all over the house. A low growl was coming from her chest, but since I was alright, she was still okay.

There was some loud banging and thumping coming from the upper level of the house, and I managed to pick out Jace's voice from the noise. "Fine! Fine, I'm coming – see, look, hands down! Geez, put the gun away!"

Did these people have guns on my family?

I was scared. Perhaps the fear was making me more compliant.

"Why am I getting taken in?" I asked, tightly clutching Macy as we were dragged down the sidewalk.

He didn't respond, and for a moment, I thought he wouldn't. Then he spoke with authority. "You are being taken in for suspected contact."

"Contact with who?" I asked, not flinching when he pressed his hand on my head to help me into the car. I moved in carefully, tugging on Macy's harness. The man spoke.

"I'm going to have to take your dog away."

That was too much. "What!" I shrieked. "I'm blind, I can't see at all! I need her!"

"We have people to guide you where you need to go."

"But I need her!"

There was a yelp from outside the car. Macy's growling stopped immediately.

"What did you do to my dog, you bastards!"

"The dog will be fine."

And with that, he slammed the door shut. The pit dropped out of my stomach.

* * *

Re-entry was always a pain in the aft. Especially on to dirty little planets like this one. He growled and wiped at a massive clump of gooey, sticky dirt, snarling heavily when the mud smeared on his armor plates. He was filthy.

How like Sides to pick a rock in the middle of nowhere, filled with pit-spawned organic life.

His re-entry had nearly liquefied the rock around him, and steam was still rising from the hole. His processor was sending messages across his HUD, indicating that almost all of his systems were normal, levels fluctuating a little bit, but stabilizing quickly. Sides was probably with the rest of the Autobots, doing noble things that seemed to be a waste of time, fighting the eternal war with the Decepticons.

Sunstreaker immediately felt for the bond, the whole reason he was on this mud hole.

He sighed in relief when he felt Sides, only a few hics away. His spark felt less chaotic, now, the rhythms stabilizing with the close contact of his twin. He tried to send out a communication, but the comm. system didn't work. That was due to Shockwave's interference with his own portion of the bond and his communication programming. Shockwave had messed with it four vorns ago in a battle where he'd been separated from the rest of the Autobots, and since then, he had been searching the galaxy for Sideswipe. It was tedious, since his spark hurt horribly whenever he thought about Sides, and he wasn't able to send out long-distance communications of more than five hics (a puny distance) but he needed to find his twin. The pain had been getting worse, his spark becoming increasingly unstable-feeling. And then – out of the blue, a homing beacon had informed him of Side's location. On a little, organic planet called Earth.

He'd come here as fast as possible, trying to land as close as he could. It hadn't taken that long to get to Earth, but each solar cycle felt like it took vorns.

He felt his twin through the shattered bond. It felt like worming through terabytes of data, but he could tease a little bit of information from the feeling.

A tiny bit of him had wondered why his twin hadn't looked for him, but he had decided that it must be due to Sides' knowledge that he would come, and Sides wanted to follow Optimus Prime.

Anger swelled in him when he felt Sideswipe. A tiny bit of relief was in him though.

Sideswipe felt like he was unconscious, unable to respond. There was residual fear tingeing the bond though, and a weird feeling – probably due to Shockwave's meddling with his coding.

Whatever it was, he was here now, and he was going to see his twin, and get the medic fix their bond. And then he'd kick Sides' aft for not coming to look for him, and making them both go through so much spark-pain.

He knew that it was hurting Sides just as much as him, and it was time to fix it. And then, he'd hunt Shockwave down and offline the fragger after ripping that aft-glitch apart.

Pale blue optics narrowed. Wherever his idiot twin was, he was coming. And when he got there, there would be Pit to pay.

* * *

AN: You guys are all troopers, giving me your thoughts, I loved it! Any niggling ideas from this chapter? See you next Wednesday!


	7. Malum

**Chapter 7: Malum**

* * *

(Latin: _misfortune, misdeed, crime, injury)_

* * *

AN: Hey guys! So, loving the comments about Sunshine. :) And the guesses are fabulous, keep'em up! Hold on to your shorts, the ride is about to get really complicated – in your review (hint-hint) let me know if you don't know what's going on – I'd be happy to let you guys know. Also, there is going to be a lot of POV stuff, probably 3-4 per chapter. If that's bad, I don't really have any ideas on how to fix it… It just has to be – I need to let you guys know tidbits about S7, Decepticons, Jace, Autobots, and Alex… Gah, why in the Pit did I make this so complicated?

I have faith in myself (and my readers), so I'll try to make it as simple as possible. I'm super excited – this is where it really gets fun!

As another small note… I saw Skyfall in theaters yesterday, and laughed myself silly when Q showed up. Damn, I love that techie. Perhaps it was my odd nature that picked a letter of a good guy as my bad guy. I bet that's why the people in front of me were giving me odd looks as I was snorting out my popcorn…

**Terms**: mechanometer (about a meter)

Astrosecond (about .273 seconds. So, his 36 astroseconds is around 10 seconds, and 5 astroseconds is about... 1.2 seconds)

* * *

**S7 Headquarters**

The slender man surveyed the area, looking at each of the cameras. A golden car was barreling down their long concrete driveway, throwing up clods of dirt and dust in its wake. The camera P3 had zoomed in was showing no driver in the front seat.

Q smiled, sharp teeth gleaming. There was still the question of why. Why was this one human girl so important to them? That they'd send one of their own – only one – to get her back? Unless… this one was working on its own. Which would make it easier to take down.

Perhaps it was a diversion, but he didn't think so. His gut was telling him there was only the one. He had been expecting NoBEC-one, but this one would have to suffice.

This was a rash, fool, act, carried out by only one.

_Their loss, my gain._

"Our guest has arrived, right on time. Make sure we escort them in, _alive_. Initiate phase two."

The man in front of him nodded sharply. "Yes, sir!"

He spun around, and moved towards the back, hands clasped behind his back.

Planning would be required. More planning. He had planned out more phases, but it was always good practice to go over them, refine them, perfect them.

His men could handle this. And if they failed, he'd be using them as the next batch of target practice dummies. Practice was so much more effective, and entertaining, when there were screams, and real blood.

He moved to another screen and placed his hands on the counter, focused on the driver-less car.

"I've got you now," he spoke softly, staring at the fancy Lamborghini. "Let the games begin, NoBEL-one."

A mocking grin spread across his handsome face at the title for the being. Hardly fitting at all, and yet…perfect.

* * *

**Alex**

I had no idea where I was. I had no idea how my family was doing, or how long I had been here. I didn't know if I was in a basement somewhere, or up high in a tower like a fairy tale princess. But I did know one thing.

There'd be no prince to save me. I was on my own.

A man had been questioning me for ages, asking questions about the gas-line break, what I had seen there. He seemed to be expecting something else, and the gas-line accident was just his way of making me trip and tell him about whatever I'd seen, how I'd been injured.

Right now, he was gone, giving me a tiny breather. I slumped in the chair, arms aching at being restrained to the chair behind me.

My family, and Macy filled my thoughts. Were they alright? These people hadn't hurt them, had they? What had happened to them? I hadn't heard anything about them since the time I had been in this strange-smelling place. It smelled like it was underground, all musty and dank, but I wasn't sure.

The door opened behind me, and I hunched over a little.

"Ms. Wells, we've been patient with you so far, but if you don't give us the truth…I'm afraid we cannot continued to be as nice."

"I don't know anything! I didn't see anything!"

The man behind me had a blank voice. "Ms. Wells, I'm afraid that if you won't tell us what we need to know, we'll be forced to take…more desperate measures."

"Like what?" I quavered, voice shaky.

His voice was clinical, professional. "You have an interesting piece of metal in your chest, Ms. Wells. Our scientists would like to look at it, in a closer, more tangible way."

I shook my head in denial, his words racing through my mind. "You…you'll cut me open if I don't tell you anything?" Horrified, my voice rang out shrilly in the echoing room.

"That sounds so crude, Ms. Wells, but you have the essential plan down, yes."

"But I don't know anything!" I cried out. How long would this go on? I didn't know anything, didn't see anything.

Other than the massive robots. But I had sworn to never talk about that again – I must have been hallucinating. Something in the gas made me see huge, deadly weapons beating on each other.

It was the only sane result – if they were government-made, what would happen if I spoke about it?

I was sure these people weren't government, no matter if they said they were or not. My government did not treat innocent civilians this way, did not threaten them with torture.

"Ms. Wells, your cooperation will ensure the safety of your family."

A pit dropped in the middle of my stomach. "You…you'll hurt my family if I don't tell you?" I whispered. "What the hell kind of monsters are you people?!" My voice was a shrill whisper.

I was defeated. I had to tell – they would not hurt my family, if that was within my power.

"Ms. Wells, the choice is yours."

"Some choice," I whispered, head hanging down. "Robots. Giant, flashing silver and black and white robots. With massive silver weapons and wheels for feet. I've never seen anything like that, in my whole life."

"See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?"

I nodded dumbly, still praying for the safety of my family. '_Please be okay, please be alright, please, please, please, please."_

"How tall?"

"Twenty feet?" I guessed dully, trying to remember past the flashes of panic in my mind when I thought about the incident a year ago.

"And the weapons, explain them to us."

"Silver blades, that were almost as tall as the robot. Massive guns that fired glowing red-orange balls of flame."

The more I thought about it, the less the memories stung. I was numb, dazed. I felt like I wasn't really there, just speaking. My brain was floating.

I talked, and talked, speaking about the robots for what felt like hours. They asked me repetitive questions, that I answered over and over in the same way.

Finally one of them spoke.

"We are grateful for your cooperation in this matter, Ms. Wells."

I breathed a sigh of relief. My family was safe. Thank goodness.

"Unfortunately, we do still need to take a look at that piece of metal in your chest area."

My stomach dropped again.

"Why?" I choked.

"That metal appears to be rare – in fact, no one has ever seen anything like it. So, we need to look at it. Personally."

I swallowed heavily, muscles tensing. Could I run?

No – I had no idea which way I'd even go. I could be stuck in a small office building, and it would take me blindly staggering into a door to escape.

"Since you gave us your information, we will do the merciful thing, and sedate you."

I was terrified. My heart was pumping three times faster than usual, and my muscles were on fire with the need to _do _something. I had to get out, I had to escape.

"Be warned that if you do something…foolish, the repercussions will be on your family."

All the fight went out of me. "Damn you bastards to hell," I said quietly, fingers lying still in my lap.

"Right this way, Ms. Wells."

Someone placed their hand around my shoulders, their other hand gripping my right arm with a tight grip. I followed meekly, unwilling to do anything that might harm my family in any way.

Cold steel was against my belly, making me suck in my breath and try to move backwards. Someone was standing right behind me though, and grabbed my arms.

The sound of scissors filled my ears, and I felt my shirt and bra snipped off.

My initial reaction was to cover my chest, but the man behind me made me incapable of that.

I was sucking in desperate lungful's of air, hoping against hope that this wasn't what it felt like.

A cold hand was laid on my cheek. "Relax, love, we just need to have the area cleared of any contaminants. Like clothing." The man's voice was cheerful.

This did not reassure me in the slightest – I wanted to run, to flee and never look back.

I was laid down on a hard piece of what felt like plastic, which was cold against my bare back. I felt straps going across my body, around my hands, one across my neck, my forehead, each foot, my waist, my hips and knees. I wasn't going to be moving at all.

Fear was rising in me again, no matter how much I tried to calm down. My breathing rate was elevating, as was my heart rate. I felt like I was going to die – here, by the executioner's blade, where I had walked and lain down myself.

For my family, I thought, keeping the thought in the foremost part of my mind. I was doing this for them. If they had been hurt in any manner, I would kill these men.

The nagging, pessimist part of my brain whispered. 'What makes you think you're getting out of here?'

I fiercely shoved the thought aside. I would survive this, and come out with my family. We had to.

Cold fluid washed across my chest, making me hiss in a breath.

"Just making the area sterile – don't want you to get an infection, now do we?"

There was more bustling, and noise. I couldn't keep track of it – my ears were ringing, pulse pounding in my chest.

"Alright, here's the sedative." This man was the same – cheerful and happy. I wanted to spit on him, like that man had spit on me in the supermarket earlier.

Granted, I wanted to take an axe to the other man's chest for even hinting at hurting my family earlier. Anger and fear were racing through me, causing me to near-hyperventilate.

He injected something, and I felt a burning sensation rise in my elbow, where he had injected me. The pain increased, and I felt light-headed. After a minute or two, he spoke.

"Alright, the subject should be frozen now – I administered a general anesthesia."

There was a lot of rustling around me – how many people were in this room? My attention was distracted by a sharp spike of pain in my arm.

I could still feel a burning sensation in my arm, steadily becoming stronger. What the heck had he put into my body?

I shrieked when a blade cut the skin, right below my collarbone.

The man holding the knife jumped a little bit, cutting in deeper.

"The subject is still awake?" he asked, sounding quiet and very interested.

"What the hell di-did you put…in me?" I muttered through my teeth, trying to focus past the pain.

"Oh, merely a sedative. It should have taken effect by now… Interesting…"

The happy-voiced-bastard spoke, sounding concerned and interested. "Can you still feel that?"

I groaned out a yes, gritting my teeth as the knife-man moved his knife around a little, causing severe pain. A whimper escaped me.

"Six, check this out."

"Hmmm, how fascinating. Take a sample of that, if you don't mind."

I hated being blind – I couldn't see what they were looking at, and I didn't know what they were about to do next.

Someone on the other side of me pulled something rubbery around my arm, and then injected a needle. _Taking blood_, I realized dimly.

"Six, subject alpha-sierra-four's colouration of the hematocrit – its…purple."

I thought desperately. Purple? Me? I was purple? No wonder kids were terrified – I was like Franken-Barney. The purple dinosaur with red eyes and creepy scars.

"Fascinating."

Another cut from knife-man, and I shrieked again.

"Continue on, four. I upped the dosage of the anesthesia, but it appears to have no effect. You know Q won't be happy if we don't get that shard." He sounded so happy still. I wanted to kill him, but the emotion was fading. The burning in my arm and shoulder took precedence.

"Understood, Six."

"Stop it!" I shrieked out, trying to twist away from the blade. I couldn't move at all, I was so strapped down.

"Ms. Wells, can you still feel this?" Six poked my right hand, the hand connected to the burning. I choked out another small agreement, trying to breathe through the pain of the cut and the burning.

"Well, well, well – after this, we'll have to investigate that phenomenon more thoroughly…"

Dread pooled in my stomach, along with despair. I was never getting out of here. I knew that now.

My scars tingled and burned, all over my body. The man cut deeper, and I screamed, my throat feeling sore.

My eyes flew open at an especially strong downwards cut, and then clenched shut, tears leaking from the corners. It hurt, so much.

"Six!" Someone sounded excited. "Take a look at her eyes!"

Six had cold fingers. They felt clammy and slick against my overheated cheeks. He pulled open my right eye, and sighed again, a happy sound. I had to focus intently to hear his words, through the pain in my arm and chest.

"Oh, this is the most exciting day ever! Two, get a sample of the iris and vitreous humor for me! Q is going to be thrilled!"

Fear raced even more heavily though me. "My eyes?" I choked out, feeling like my heart was going to pound out of my chest.

"Yes, dear – your eyes. We're going to be taking them – but, since you aren't using them…" Two snickered a little, and my fear grew again.

"No, no, you can't! Don't do it!"

"Sorry, sweetheart, but orders are orders," Two crooned, almost cradling my chin.

I choked, and screamed when the knife-man gouged in deeper.

"I'm almost through to the shard, Six. This tissue is a lot stronger than normal."

Six sighed, the backdrop to his words my shrill screams. "This is a wonderful day – Q will be so happy with this specimen!"

I screamed, throat feeling hoarse when fingers were suddenly in my chest, digging around. I felt a weird jerk in my chest, but mostly the nerves were screaming at me, and I was screaming out in pain. Make it stop, just make it stop, let me die, let me die!

A soothing wave of calm raced through me, along with another odd sensation – the sensation of blood-lust. I wanted to tear their hearts out of their chests with my bare hands, and stomp on their heads. Blow their brains all over the wall in a gruesome display of art. It would be beautiful.

"Six, I've almost got the metal – just one more tug!"

My mind was going blank. I couldn't handle the pain much longer, it was taking me over. Something held open my left eye, and a sharp needle jabbed into the flesh.

A massive shriek ripped from my lungs, and my throat nearly felt like I had torn it out. I was in agony – the burning of my eye, the torture of someone with a knife in my chest.

The floor shook, rattling my platform. All the scientists stopped for a moment, which made me dimly wonder what was going on. The man with his fingers in my chest froze.

Six spoke, quietly. "Continue on, men – nothing to be worried about. Q has it under control, as always."

Suddenly, the floor shook again, much more heavily. I could hear odd sounds, like massive guns firing from right above us. I was gasping on the table, feeling my hearing going in and out of focus.

The roof shrieked, a massive, groaning sound that had all the scientists pause what they were doing.

One of them yelled, "Go, move to the sides! Hurry, before it collapses!" The man ripped once more at my chest, and I felt something come out, making me scream in pain, the worst pain yet. I got the oddest feeling in my chest then, something calming me down.

"I got it, Six!"

"Perfect! Q will be pleased!"

I was on fire, the burning in my veins only matched by the pain in my eyes and chest. A massive cracking sound from the ceiling, and a few chunks of concrete as well as dust rained down on me.

All the scientists froze, against the walls.

The room was completely quiet, with my breathing being the loudest noise by far in the quiet room. There was a faint clinking of metal, and a faint panting from one of the scientists.

The roof collapsed, causing a few scientists to shriek out. I didn't care much – I could die here or wherever. I was done.

Hopefully it would be soon – I just wanted it to be over.

* * *

**Sunstreaker**

Sideswipe was around here somewhere, the fragging glitch-head. He'd been tracking the signal, following it closely when little organic squishies started to fire low- to negligible-damage weaponry at him. He ignored it, intent on his brother.

He could feel the energy, a frenetic, pain-filled cacophony of bursts racing through their bond. It was enough to drive a mech to madness.

He sent another burst of calmness to his agonized brother, along with a healthy dose of rage. _I'm coming. I'll kill them all. Wait for me, Sideswipe._

One of the little fragging organics shot at him with a low-level energy weapon. He merely swivelled on his feet, and let the small explosive pass him, creating a crater on the far wall. A single shot in their direction vaporized about half of them.

His high definition battle screen flashed up, pouring more energon to his optics. Sideswipe's signal was directly below him, seventy mechanometers below.

Sunstreaker fired his weapons directly downwards, and moved into the gaping, melted hole.

When he found Sideswipe, he was going to get them out of here, and then he'd tear a strip of Sideswipe's armour off for getting caught _and_ making him land on this dirt-heap of a planet.

The golden-armoured bot fired downwards as he fell, making the floor weaken enough so that his feet punched through. More fragging organics poured out from every available space, and he fired a few shots at the ceiling above them, causing a massive downpour of concrete. A few organics cried out in pain as they were crushed, but he ignored it.

The annoyed mech finally dropped through the ceiling to where the bond was pulsing strongest. His optics immediately scanned the room, searching for his wayward brother.

No Sideswipe. Pale blue eyes lightened to almost-white with the intensity of his anger.

Sunstreaker moved with lightning speed, ripping apart two of the soft organics without even pausing, firing his weapon at a cluster of white-covered biological, reducing them to dust against the wall. A tiny spattering of fluids coated his servos, speckling his chassis.

White-tinted eyes narrowed in disgust. These flesh-creatures were filthy.

His optics did a quick scan of the immediate area, focused on the place where his bond was insisting Sideswipe was.

There was a leaking biological strapped to a table, no covering in the upper chassis area. Its upper chassis area was leaking purple fluid that his HUD was trying to analyze. He was about to fire at that one too, when a signal fired across his HUD, lightning quick.

_Sideswipe located._ A thin, glowing ribbon of light in his HUD surrounded the leaking organic.

The mech snarled. They were trying to deceive him, this was a trick! A barrage of hot weapons hit his servo, heating the metal enough to burn a tiny hole through some of the armour, and causing a few drops of energon to splash around the room, a few of those scant drops landing on the organic.

Cold anger swathed his processor. Sunstreaker ripped the floor out from beneath the organic who had fired on him and injured him, making the man fall to the floor in front of him. He gave him five astroseconds to be terrified, and then fired his weapon, making the frail organic disappear in a wave of fire.

His brother was around here somewhere, not where this organic being strapped to a table was.

A few shots from the one surviving black-coated organic hit the biological strapped down, and broke a strap.

The small organic turned over, away from him. His optics caught the marking on its back.

His designation. His designation, backwards, but still written on the flesh of its back.

_How?_ Sunstreaker knew that these fleshling creatures didn't know Cybertronian. They used other glyphs, from what he had seen.

The click of other weapons from more organics hit his audial receptors, and he glared, eyes icy-white. Analyzing the weapons the organics had dropped showed they would explode in thirty-six astroseconds. Enough time to obliterate them all, and escape.

He fired his weapons at the small organics, coldly noting their demise. Turning to leave, his audio receptors heard a soft sob. He was leaving, and the sound didn't make him pause. The spark-pain when he moved farther away did make him pause though.

Immediately, his processor whirred into a different plan. He'd take this scrap of organic flesh, and rip the secrets of where Sideswipe was from its little organic flesh.

Then, once it had told him all it knew about Sideswipe, why his name was engraved on its back, how come it felt like Sideswipe, and why it had energon in its fluids, he would offline it.

Sideswipe had a lot to answer for.

* * *

**Alex**

I could hear the loud crashes, the screams of the men. My eyes were closed as tight as I could make them go, and if it wasn't for the straps still holding me to the table, I'd have been long gone. Whimpers were escaping my lips, but I couldn't do anything about that noise.

Something was in the room right now, something that smelled like oil, and made weird sounds when it moved. My mind instantly flashed back to the robots of a year ago; the sounds matching exactly.

Why? Why was there one here, now? What had I done?

A flash of gold crossed my closed eyes, followed by a feeling in my chest, a harsh, heavy feeling.

Hatred. Longing. Blood-lust. Pain.

I whimpered, and tried to move farther away, but the bond that had broken appeared to be the only one that had. I tugged, futilely, trying to escape.

I didn't want to die now, I wanted to live, to be with my family.

The room was quiet now, other than the sounds of air venting through something, and my harsh panting, as I tugged to get my arms through the straps. Suddenly, I felt warm air on my face.

A whimper escaped my lips.

The pain in my chest was gone, but my eyes still burned and itched and smarted.

The massive presence in the room still loomed over me.

I felt the table I was on move, and the straps holding me to it suddenly ripped. I lay still, hoping whatever it was wasn't going to blow me into a pulp.

Massive pieces of metal wrapped around me, and plucked me off the table. I shrieked, and grabbed one tightly.

It almost felt like a hand…but that was impossible… I swallowed, eyes clenched tightly shut as I thought about that. The robot.

The robot was taking me with it.

Why? Was it for what I had seen a year ago? Was it because I had told those people all I knew?

It was going to kill me. I was going to die.

I was mumbling out loud, barely conscious that I was doing so. "I'm going to die, it's going to kill me, I'm so sorry."

The robot made no reply.

The grip was tight, tight enough that I could barely breathe. I gasped; taking in lungful's of air as quickly as I could. It took me upwards, making my head spin from the quickness and the lack of air. Shots echoed, some clanging off the metallic robot, which gave out a deep growl. Reflexively, my eyes opened, seeing blackness.

The robot moved a little bit, and I heard the whoosh of a massive weapon being fired. Another squeak of fear escaped me. Hot air washed across my cheeks, and I clenched my eyes closed again.

We moved forwards again, the lack of noise from the guards making me think the worst. The robot was efficient, merely firing once into a new room, and the guards were all silent after a few screams rang out.

I lurched in its grip, throwing up the meager contents of my stomach. Immediately, I was held farther forwards, and the grip increased in strength.

I was disgusted.

No, I was sick. I felt like throwing up again. I wanted to dance on the guard's shattered corpses, leap through the flames that were evidence of my wrath. None could stand against me and my…

My mind fogged, the bright flashes of gold going through my head, and fading to black. I passed out.

* * *

I wasn't sure how long I was out, but it couldn't have been all that long – the robot was still carrying me. It lurched forwards, and I found myself on the ground. The hand disappeared, and I lay limply on the concrete.

"If you want to live, get inside." The voice was cold, dark and angry. I shuddered, considering my options. If I went with the voice, would I live? Or was it just the robot master?

Either way, I wasn't staying here.

I moved towards the voice, crawling across the ground. My palms tore against the harsh concrete.

My head hit a hard piece of metal in front of me, and I shrieked a little.

"Frag it, get it, you slow organic." Something scooped me up, and I tumbled into a little space. Something closed overtop of me.

There was a roar, strong and powerful which made me think some type of vehicle. It accelerated forwards quickly, and I rolled a little bit, hitting my shoulder on the thing behind me. The space I was in was small, and warm.

I panicked, wondering where I was. My limbs flailed out, smashing at the space around me, hitting pieces on every side of me, and on top only a foot or so away. I started to hyperventilate, heart rate surging heavily.

"Where am I?" I cried out, still desperately exploring the area I was in.

I was bouncing around as the vehicle moved, causing bruises to form on my skin. My breathing was panting, and my legs were still kicking.

One thought came to mind. _My prince is a sadistic robot._

Then, something hit me on the back of the head, and I knew no more.

* * *

**S7 Headquarters**

Q moved forwards, striding through the rubble of the destroyed lab. Sharp, dark eyes focused on the torn apart form of Six. Specifically, the vials in Six's hands.

"Loyal to the end," he mused, swirling the purple tinted fluid in a circle.

A man came up, clutching his side where blood was pouring out. He must have been on the very edge of one of the non-biological's weapons.

"Sir – NoBEL-one escaped, with AS-four, sir."

"Yes, I am aware of this fact." His voice was cool, tempered. It would do no good to be running about like an idiot. NoBEL-one was a tricky one alright – much more battle-strong than he had anticipated. He'd have to revise his plans. Luckily, NoBEL-one and Alexandra Wells had left him enough to start planning and revising immediately. He still had the girl's family too – if necessary, he could always get her back through… the proper leverage.

"What are your orders, sir?"

"Have Squad Three come down here, and comb the remains for anything useful. Have them examine the remains of all who were injured and perished due to NoBEL-one, and look for any clues to the origins of NoBEL-one's weaponry. They will report directly to me."

Q stared down at the vial, clearly dismissing the man.

The man nodded sharply, and whirled on his heel. He marched off, quickly.

Practice would be more interesting tomorrow – there were a few men who had survived, and NoBEL-one had survived, and escaped. Yes, practice would be much more…entertaining.

Q rolled the vial around in his fingers again. "The games are off to a thrilling start. I do believe it is my move," he said nonchalantly, watching the blood roll around the vial, clinging to the glass walls of the tube. His eyes gleamed in the lab's flickering halogen lighting as a fist clenched around the clear vial, filled with cooling blood. "And I plan to win."

* * *

**Sideswipe**

The silvered Autobot was feeling on-edge, and antsy. It was getting to the point where he couldn't even enjoy a cube of energon without feeling like whipping out his blades. The warrior had run an anti-virus program as well as contemplated speaking to Ratchet about the weird feeling.

Sideswipe was sick of it. He irately ran another systems check, not expecting it to come up with anything. It was just a nagging feeling, right on the back of his helm, like something was watching him, or he was missing something.

It was frustrating the silver warrior to the Pit.

Sideswipe finished his training with the NEST soldiers, and stomped off, angry again for no discernible reason.

The 'bot subspaced his blades, angry again at the thought of cleaning and sharpening them tonight, even though that was something he usually found cathartic. But not today.

A tiny alert in his HUD came up, and he immediately opened it, hoping that his sensors had found what was making him annoyed.

It was a small message stating that he'd have to check on Alexandra Wells again tomorrow, to superficially scan her again. Ratchet had been annoyed lately, stating that what he should really do is have Sides show up again, and get her into his interior where he could scan her at a much stronger level, to really tell if there was anything malfunctioning in her.

Normally, Sides would have jumped at the chance to do something more interesting, like get her into him, and scan the frag out of the human. But he'd been feeling so antsy and jumpy that his sensors just wouldn't allow him to. For the last few times he'd been at the Wells' home, he hadn't even wanted to stay for the hour it took to do a complete scan. So he'd hurried the job, rushed and left. It was a weird sensation that he didn't like.

Sideswipe absently tried to remember how long ago he started feeling uneasy, and the last time he had felt perfectly at ease.

One year ago. When he had last spoken to Alex, he had forgotten that Sunny was gone, and that his spark felt like it was slowly corroding inside his chassis.

Another small alert, and he closed it, knowing that it wanted him to go and check on Alex.

The silver car sent a small message to Optimus, merely stating that he was going to go and check on the human, and scan it for Ratchet. Really, if Ratchet wanted to make sure this human was safe, he should go and check on it himself.

But no, the CMO was _much_ too busy to go and merely scan the fragging human himself. So it was Sideswipe who had to drag his shiny aft out and check the human, and then come back.

Granted, he didn't mind all that much normally, but lately the human had been weirding him out. But he didn't know why – he didn't want to stick around the human, he didn't even want to be within scanning range of the human. And it was really strange, considering that last year she had been inside of him, and he had liked it.

The silver car snickered once as the human equivalent for that came up into his processor. What a dirty-minded race humans were. Not that he didn't appreciate it sometimes.

As he tooled down the highway towards the Wells' residence, he found himself going faster, unusually (for lately) excited to get there and scan the strange little human. She was so…weird.

And, just for a moment, perhaps he'd forget about the spark-pain that Sunny was causing him, wherever that fragger was.

Pain shot through his chassis at the thought of the yellow 'bot.

_:Sunny, where are you?: _he asked through the bond. A small shot of pain was his only answer, making the car swerve and jerk as he weathered the jolt.

Ratchet had been working on dampening the pain, but it wasn't working so far.

He decided that soon, he'd go to Optimus and ask for leave to go and search for his brother. Prime might not give it to him, but it was worth a shot – after all, he knew where the Autobots were, and he wasn't as good at fighting as Sunny was.

Prime might not let him go because the Decepticons had been really quiet lately – despite Megatron having his spark blown out by that Sam-human, there was still a lot of Decepticons unaccounted for.

So Prime wouldn't want one of his best melee fighters to take off for a few vorns. Which was understandable – but it still hurt. He needed Sunny here, he _needed_ his other half.

If it went on too much longer, he'd just leave, and come back once he had his twin in tow.

The silver car pulled up to the Wells' residence, and slowed.

Something was off. He scanned the area carefully, not ignoring the way his processor had caught something. He just needed to find it with his own optics. The front door was closed, the bushes were nicely weeded, a small _For Sale_ sign pressed into the lawn…

A sign? _For Sale_?

Immediately the 'bot called the small number listed underneath the sign.

A female voice answered, almost immediately.

"Hello, this is Romax Realty, Alana speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hi, I'm looking at a house on forty-one street, number two-seven-one-four?"

"Oh yes, the Marco's residence. What about it?"

Sideswipe's holoform optics narrowed. Marco? That wasn't Alex's designation. Hers was Wells. Which was odd, considering what a well was – did her family deal in Wells, or something of the like?

"I'm just taking a look – do you know what the asking price is?"

"One moment – ah, yes, it is listed at two hundred and seven thousand. Do you wish to set up an appointment to look about the property?"

"No, just looking at my options, you know? Thanks." He disconnected the call swiftly.

The car sitting outside the house scanned the house for humanoid life forms.

No humanoid life forms located. To be sure that the scanner was working correctly, he aimed it at a human walking down the street, oogling his alternative mode.

The scanner immediately started listing the pertinent information about the other human. Seventy one inches tall, one hundred eighty three pounds, elevated heart rate, increased respirations, temperature within normal ranges, the usual. He cut it off, and looked towards the house.

Sideswipe activated his holoform, and walked out of the car, up to the house. First he tried the front door – it was locked. He looked to pull the spare key from the front, but it wasn't there. Aggravated, the holoform sidled around the back, and managed to get in one of the patio windows – the mother never locked them, oddly enough.

He slipped inside, and froze. The house was empty.

Not empty as in, no-people-must-all-be-at-work but empty as in house-empty-gone-walls-bare-nothing-_here_.

The holoform slipped farther into the house, looking for something to indicate that the Wells had lived here, and it hadn't been his imagination. Since he had never actually been in the house, verifying that they actually had lived here could be difficult. But he had dropped her off twice, and came to this location to scan her more than once, so he knew that he was in the right place.

The house was completely empty – like they had never lived here in the first place. He moved through the house swiftly, looking for anything that might indicate that this had been a home.

Nothing. Nothing at all – a grave of a house.

The holoform fizzled out of existence, and Sideswipe immediately hacked into the human computers. He searched Alex in conventional means, but when that didn't come up with any results, he switched his methods.

The 'bot hacked through the firewalls that someone had put up around the Wells' family with ease. There was no information present on the Wells family at all. The hacker who had deleted all the information had done a thorough job – nothing was left. It was like the family had never existed in the first place.

Cold anger washed through the frontliner. After all the time he had spent talking to and watching over the femme human, and now, some group thought that they could just take her away and make it like she never existed?

Not a chance. His engines revved angrily.

She was the only thing that had made him…not forget, but just…not remember Sunstreaker for a few moments, the only thing interesting that he'd encountered on this dirt-ball, and the humans were not taking her from him.

The silver warrior traced the hacker back, through a few interesting detours to Russia, the UK, some small place in Australia, all the way to a location east of him, tracing the hacker in about ten minutes. They were good – most human hackers were slow, and caught easily. This one seemed to have a few tricks.

But not enough. The group was about a thirty hours' drive for humans – around twelve to fifteen for him. His engines revved again, and he peeled off, not informing Prime of this development. Chances were that Prime would only spoil his fun, and order him back to base, as the boss was prone to doing.

Sideswipe considered the trip again. Going to get the femme. Check.

After that? He'd deal with after once he got there.

A massive rev of the engine, a few inches of rubber laid out on the asphalt and he was on his way, making pedestrians leap out of the way of the homicidal driver of a silver Corvette.

* * *

AN: For those who don't have it all written down (like I do…-waves cheat sheet happily-)

AS-four (alpha-sierra-four) – Alex

NoBEL-one – (Sunstreaker) **No**n-**B**iological-**E**xtraterrestrial-**L**amborghini-**ONE (1)**

NoBEC-one – (Sideswipe) **No**n-**B**iological-**E**xtraterrestrial-**C**orvette-**ONE (1)**

So, it would be great if I could get some feedback pertaining to how the POV's change, and if you have to think too much to keep them all straight – later on, there will be a lot (GAH!) of different POV's, and I want to make sure that we all stay on the same page with them. Not everyone has the luxury of having it all typed out… :D


	8. Congrediamur

**Chapter 8: ****Congrediamur**

* * *

(Latin: _we meet_)

* * *

AN: Sunshine's an aft. What else is new?

I think I told someone that Sunstreaker had her in the trunk…and then I remembered that a Lamborghini's trunk is approximately the same size as a postage stamp.

**Terms**: mecahnometer – about a meter. Thus, a few hundredths of a mechanometer is not very big. :)

**Names**: NBE-one – Megatron, from the first movie.

NBE-eight – Optimus Prime

NBE-six – Scorponok, from movie one. When his tail was cut off. After that, it disappears. In my story, S7 got their greedy hands on it…Even though they've been officially 'disrupted.' Pssh, as if that ever stopped a secret government group designed to protect against alien invaders. :)

NoBEC-one – Sideswipe

NoBEL-one – Sunstreaker

AS-four - Alex

AS-three – Jace

* * *

**Warnings: **Sunstreaker tortures Alex with electricity. You've been warned.

* * *

**S7 Headquarters**

Alexandra Wells was not supposed to have escaped. That was wrong – he needed her for research. Her eyes and blood had shown fascinating results so far, with many interesting avenues opening up in weaponry.

His fingers clutched the coffee mug he held a little tighter, and then relaxing and taking a sip of the Columbian Dark Roast blend specially prepared.

He still had her family though – he could… influence her to come back. Through passive means, or more…persuasive methods. And then there was the matter of AS-four…the whole reason he dragged the family in. His eyes perused the computer in front of him that had camera C6 focussed on a dark-haired young man. He examined the camera picture more carefully, looking at the cell in which AS-three was sitting down, hands fisted in his hair. A small smirk played on his lips.

_You will be useful in the war, Jace Wells. On my side._

He became aware of a shorter man coming up behind him, clearly visible in the reflective glass of the lab. He turned around to face the man.

"Report."

The man took a deep breath.

"Q, we've been hacked – we suspect NoBEC-one. NoBEC-one has been spotted in traffic cameras, and appears to be heading this way, ETA of seven hours at current speeds. It also sent us a malicious virus, which our best tech personnel are working on." The tech man was nervous – the last man to inform Q of something less than perfect in the technology area had been…less than one hundred percent functional the next week, to put it mildly.

Heck, the man hadn't even been breathing, and had been outfitted with a new pine suit. And a lovely grave.

"I've been expecting this," the tall man said, inspecting the lab in front of him carefully.

The techie's eyebrows furrowed. "Sir, you were expecting this?"

"Of course," Q said blithely, still looking at the lab, cradling the coffee mug. "I've known this was coming, but I didn't expect it so soon."

"But…but…" the techie stuttered, his initial idea of not saying anything to Q banished with his confusion.

The tall, slender man narrowed dark eyes that glinted blue in the light. "What is NoBEC-one's tie to her? Why was NoBEL-one involved? Are they connected?"

"Sir?" the man tried, tentatively. His head was spinning. Q was crazy – he _wanted _the giant robot aliens to find them? What was wrong with the man?

Q inspected the man's face, and a tiny smirk crossed his handsome face. This was just another grunt, obviously not heavy in the brain-action department. He'd keep the man's face in mind – the scientists might need a guinea pig for one of their experiments sooner or later.

"You can go now," he said softly, turning back around and watching in the reflective glass as the man scurried off.

Q looked over the lab, watching the lab with interest. His slender fingers curled in front of him, wrapping around the coffee mug he held. NoBEL-one was a wildcard, unpredictable and a plan-wrecker. He had planned on taking Alexandra Wells apart for experiments, but now he had lost her. Due to the new arrival, NoBEL-one. He had expected NoBEC-one to initiate a crazed rescue operation, like the alien was doing now with no backup, because the silver Corvette was reckless, and single-minded in his goals.

He knew that the alien would be able to track the hacker back to Sector Seven's headquarters, regardless of how talented the hacker, or how many traps the hacker laid. So it was just a matter of time before an enraged Corvette appeared on their doorstep. Which brought him to the lab that he was at now – they needed more firepower before an irate and homicidal alien showed up to hand their asses to them, even more than NoBEL-one had.

Why the girl inspired such loyalty from her alien guardian was a puzzle to him, at the moment. And why NoBEL-one had come after her too – his men had discovered that NoBEL-one had minimal radio and long-distance communications. So why did it immediately come after the human? It wouldn't have gotten instruction from NBE-eight because it wouldn't have been able to receive the message. Or shouldn't have been able to. Was there another method of communication between the aliens?

The man's eyes brightened with an inner glow, even as they thinned in thought. He needed to capture one, alive, as soon as possible.

Perhaps NoBEL-one, and then he'd have AS-four back. A win-win situation.

But NoBEC-one was still on its way, and he doubted they'd have the firepower, or manpower to hold both of the aliens.

He'd have to think on it more while watching the weapons demonstration in front of him.

The scientist in Lab D9 had wanted him to observe his newest weapon, created from the NBE-six tail as well as previous information from NBE-one.

The dark-haired man nodded to the scientist, a clear signal to go ahead.

The blond scientist cleared his throat. He indicated a shiny silver weapon lying on the table beside him.

"The basic principle is to use the metal alloy present in the portion of NBE-six, and use it to create a weapon that can take down the other extraterrestrials. This weapon is a heated missile that can melt through extremely strong metal alloys. It was based on the sabot rounds that the army utilizes, but only takes the concept.

"The actual shells themselves have tested to be ten times more dangerous to the creatures than the sabot rounds, much like a missile fired from a plane – except the gun is hand-held.

"If the gunner desires accuracy, the range is limited to about two hundred yards at the moment. We are working on increasing the range. We are also experimenting with a more destructive shell."

"The gun is held like so," he propped it against his shoulder, tight, and sighted down the barrel. "And the trigger is in the same place as a conventional rifle."

He turned around, and aimed at a chunk of metal lying on a table across the lab. The man pulled on the trigger, hitting the piece of metal.

The table melted from the blast, incinerating the scrap of metal as well. A chunk of the wall sagged inwards, melting into a pile of hot liquid on the lab floor.

One corner of Q's mouth pulled up into a grin, the light of the flames dancing in his dark eyes as he watched the flames consume the corner of the lab.

"Excellent."

He turned to the man standing behind him. "We'll need to synthesize more of the fluid obtained from AS-four. Put out some feelers for the subject. I didn't get nearly the samples that I'll need."

A tiny blue glow in his eyes. "Soon, we shall be ready."

Soon, NoBEC-one and NoBEL-one's heads would be sitting in his office, along with Alexandra Wells.

* * *

**Alex**

My eyes fluttered open, taking in blackness. Nothing unusual there. Sitting up straight, my neck cramped horribly, causing agony to race through me. How long had I been out? Where was I?

The growl of an engine answered that question. I was in a vehicle, probably moving quite quickly.

I felt beside me, feeling air. Warm, smooth _something_ was underneath my fingers, feeling distinctly like leather. I ran a finger down the surface, exploring. On my other side, my hand touched the side of the door. So I was in the passenger side.

Suddenly, something tugged sharply at my chest, causing a spike of pain, and a cold voice spoke. "Touch me again, and I'll rip your head off, got it?"

Immediately, I pulled my fingers back in and winced as more pain raced through my chest.

My fingers felt gingerly at my chest, feeling the sticky, warm and damp feeling. The area I was being held in smelled sort of coppery, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why.

I was still bleeding, and I was also not wearing anything on my top. Embarrassment seared through me, and I immediately covered my chest with my hands. After another particularly harsh jolt from the vehicle, my hands splayed out, one hand touching the door.

I let go before the driver decided to blow my head off. That was something that did not sound pleasant in the least.

Sitting quietly for a few minutes, I merely listened to the engine race along, the sound nearly matching the frenetic beating of my heart.

Eventually, my curiosity won out – the driver hadn't said anything more from that one threat and I was feeling particularly stupid, I guess. I needed to feel the space I was being kept in. Moving my fingers carefully, I felt upwards. The roof was only about a foot away, and felt warm, like the surface I was sitting on.

Suddenly, the vehicle jerked to the side, making me shriek and throw my hands out to support myself. The vehicle jerked to a stop, making me smash forwards and smack my head on something in front of me. The dashboard, probably.

There was a rush of sound, and warm air that didn't smell like oil or…something else…filtered into my nose.

A voice, the same one as before. "Get out."

It felt like the vehicle shifted, throwing me on to the asphalt. I smacked my cheek, immediately feeling it sting and burn like fire. I cowered, trying to cover myself up as I tried to hide from whatever person was controlling the robot. Was the robot strong enough to lift the car? Had we stopped near it? Why? A weird, clicking, shifting sound hit my ears, and then there were massive thuds on the ground.

"Who are you?" I asked in a quiet whisper, still desperately wanting to be anywhere but here. Or back at the lab getting my chest cut open.

"Where is Sideswipe?" the voice growled in a low, thoroughly dangerous voice from high above me.

I merely whimpered, wishing I was back with my family, sitting around the table, discussing something highly irrelevant and using nonsensical logic. I wished that I had apologized to Liam, because it was terrible without my best friend, I wished that I could disappear into the earth, and that no one would ever be able to hurt me again. Wasn't this enough already?

"Answer me, fragging organic."

"I don't know," I managed to wheeze out, face still pointed downwards.

Something pressed against my back, and I choked, taking in lungful's of air, but still feeling like I didn't have enough.

"What have you done with him?"

"I don't know!" I called out, terrified. What was going to happen to me?

"Why is my name on your back?"

"I don't know! I'm sorry, please!" My voice was getting desperate. It was going to kill me; they were going to have the giant robot kill me. And it was asking such weird questions, questions I didn't have the answer to.

A jolt of pain went through my back, making me scream.

"Where did you get those markings on your flesh?" The voice was coldly sinister, feeling nothing as they had the robot torture me.

"In an accident a year ago," I sobbed. "Giant…robots…"

"Where are they now?"

I shook my head, feeling tears pour down my face. My hands where clenched on the ground, shaking. "I don't…I don't know."

"Useless fragging human," it muttered. I could tell the person was thinking about what to do with me. The piece on my back poked downwards, hard, and I collapsed against the asphalt.

Another shove.

"Why do you have this marking on your back?"

My heart was racing, pulse pounding heavily in my ears.

The questions it was asking me were nonsensical, almost sounding like a blur. "I…don't know about markings," I managed, pain wracking my body. Pretty soon, I'd go unconscious from blood loss, right? Oh, please let that be so – maybe then the torture would be over.

I screamed as another bolt of pain lanced through me, feeling like my guts were going to liquefy and come out through my scream.

My eyes were clenched shut, riding out the pain.

I panted heavily, waiting for the agony to die down, for the person to simply decide that I wasn't worth the pain – I didn't _know_ anything!

It felt like my blood was racing through my veins singing. I must be hallucinating, because I could swear that I was floating.

My eyes opened, and I froze.

* * *

**Sunstreaker**

The fragging organic had gotten body fluids all over his flawless leather interior. How revolting. Granted, leather was an animal by-product (their skins, to be precise), and he didn't really want _that _inside him – he was thankful that scanning it didn't make it _actual _leather. He scanned the five hics he was able to, and noted that there wasn't a life-form larger than the human he was toting around in his seat for those five hics.

He didn't know why he had taken it with him. Why he didn't just kick it out right now. But at the moment, it was his closest lead to Sideswipe. When it woke up, he'd interrogate it by any methods necessary.

A tiny warning popped up on his HUD, signalling that he'd have to get some more energon soon. He crushed the warning viciously, knowing that'd he'd have to get more fuel at some point.

Just another reason to reach the Autobots soon – he needed energon.

He shivered minutely as disgust curdled in him as the organic turned over.

It was awake, and _touching_ him, dirty parts leaving streaks on the roof of his cab compartment. After barking out a threat, it stopped, but soon he could feel those chilly organic digits _touching _him again, leaving fluids stained across his seat and roof. Immediately, he hit the brakes as hard as he could, feeling cold satisfaction at the loud crash the organic made when it struck the front, most likely injuring it.

No worse than what he'd be doing later though. After he got his information, namely where his idiotic twin was, he'd off-line the miserable organic. Be a mercy, really – it was defective.

The golden warrior untwisted himself, towering over the shaking organic. Red-purple fluid surrounded the flesh-creature, and his optics immediately focused on the scarring on its back, a pale blue light circling the creature, and informing him that it was Sideswipe.

He banished the ridiculous notion. As if Sideswipe would be stupid enough to become trapped in an organic's body.

Icy blue optics focused on the small squishy's back. His designation. Why in Primus did the organic have his fragging designation scrawled across the flesh of its back?

Why did the creature have energon present in its fluids, also? From his analysis of the other flesh-bags, none of them had contained energon.

Was it an anomaly? No. His instincts were telling him that it had something to do with Sideswipe.

He pressed on it with one finger, and growled menacingly. The thing squeaked out something in one of the languages he had downloaded, English.

Something about living. And family.

"Why do you have this marking on your back?" he growled out, ignoring the HUD screen telling him the little creature's heart was in danger of overloading and shutting down. No problem of his – eventually, he'd off-line it too.

The squishy shuddered, leaving fluids on his digit that he'd have to wash off later. Disgust crossed his faceplate.

"I…don't know about markings."

His patience snapped. This organic flesh-bag didn't know anything.

Another shock of electricity – enough to hurt terribly, but not enough to off-line the thing. Actually, he wasn't sure if it was or not – he didn't care much. It screamed, loudly and he dampened his audio receptors. Did it have to make such a terrible noise?

White optics focused on the organic. Namely, the energon visible in its body. It appeared to be almost glowing. Which was impossible.

He sent another shock through it, and was ready to slice the organic to pieces when it suddenly moved and looked up at him.

Glowing red eyes – the eyes of a Decepticon.

* * *

**Alex**

I could _see_. Well, not very well, because the landscape was tinted an odd shade of red, and I seemed to be seeing a lot more red and orange than I was used to, but I could _see._

The sky was an odd mix of orange and blue, but the sun was up near the middle of the sky, a massive red ball.

I must be dreaming, or unconscious.

Immediately, I looked above me at the robot who was torturing me. It was massive, towering over me. The torso was crimson, and bright red in the center of the chest (but I wasn't sure if that was just the odd prevalence of red), fading a little bit to be golden-yellow at the extremities. Two bright white lights were glinting at me from the (head?) top of the robot.

Wickedly sharp, bright red blades appeared out of nowhere, making me scramble back with a shout. Agony erupted along my back and chest. I curled up, even though I was terrified.

I wanted to run, to fight, to explode, all at once. It was overwhelming.

Swallowing once, I peered over the robot again, taking all the details. Might as well, before I die. I was under no misconceptions. This thing was sent to kill me, and I had no doubt that it would succeed. After all, how much resistance could a blind girl put up? Well, I wasn't blind now, even though I had no idea how _that_ happened.

As I stared at the robot, which was starting to swing its massive blade, I felt an odd _click_, deep inside me. Time slowed. Something seemed to whisper, a faint, haunting melody that was at the tips of my ears, almost heard yet not quite.

Weird clicks and whistles, in a language I thought I'd heard before.

What in the world?

* * *

**Sunstreaker**

Sunstreaker immediately whirled his energon blades out of subspace, ready to shred the organic (or was it?) to pieces.

It was staring at him, in morbid fascination. A tiny part of him was pleased by the scrutiny – doubtlessly, he was the most flawless thing it had ever seen. Really, it should be thanking him for being the one to take it out.

Then his logic and battle centers kicked into overdrive, and he swung the blades down. As he swung, there seemed to be an odd _click_ in his mind. Not unlike a gate or door opening.

It was located where the bond was, deep within his spark.

Sideswipe was at the other end of the _click_, waiting.

Feelings of connected-ness, love, and excitement filled him. The darker emotions of rage, anger and bloodlust were also present, but not as prevalent as the excitement and surprise that Sideswipe was projecting. Sunstreaker's blade faltered, missing the organic curled on the ground by a few hundredths of a mechanometer.

_:Sunny_?_:_ His blade sliced into the asphalt, throwing small shreds off the road.

"Sideswipe?" he spoke aloud, and mentally.

:_Sunny_!: His idiotic twin cheered, excited feelings pouring from him. The homicidal feeling dampened, even if he'd never admit it.

_:Don't call me that, half-bit!:_

_:Sunny, Sunny, Sunny!: _The moron chirped, annoying Sunstreaker with his inane chattering. Although the yellow-gold bot was happy to have his twin back, here on this planet, he was still an annoying glitch.

He gazed off into the distance, instantly communicating with his twin.

It was like they were talking at the same time, yet answering questions and sending ideas across the bond.

Sunstreaker's feelings of anxiety, concern, revenge and disgust at being _dirty_ and _scratched_ flowed across the bond in a continuous stream of information.

He received an understanding feeling, excitement, worry, and a lot of confusion.

_:Why does it feel different?:_ Sideswipe inquired, meaning the bond.

_:Pit if I know,: _Sunstreaker gruffly sent, still in shock that he was talking to his twin again. Shockwave had told him that he was not going to be able to talk to his twin mentally ever again.

_:What was that? Shockwave? What did that fragging glitch do?:_

A mental shrug – he wanted to tell his twin in person, so he could beat his helm in for ditching him and running off with Prime.

Then Sideswipe disappeared.

* * *

**Sideswipe**

He'd been getting weird feelings all day – like something had happened. Once in a while, his spark _shook_, and pain would wrack his frame. The feelings had been getting more intense, and just as he was about to mention them to Ratchet back at base (despite the verbal chewing-out he'd receive for not returning ), it stopped.

At first he had attributed it to his emotions over the femme being taken and deleted. But now he wasn't so sure.

But the fact that they had stopped was a good thing because Ratchet would dent his helm flat if he let him know that he was around six hours out, still travelling fast.

But it wasn't the normal type of stop – it was the feeling that he'd get when Sunny passed out. Sunny wasn't on Earth though. His twin would have contacted him earlier if that was the case.

He traced it back through to where it felt like it was originating from. Somewhere east of here.

The silver-armoured transformer's optics would have narrowed if he was in his bipedal form.

He got an odd sense, like it was more than what he was feeling. He was missing something here.

He had been travelling for a few hours, partially hacking into cameras and looking for the femme, partially revelling in the glory that the speed of the road brought to him. The few police who he roared by gave chase for a while, but then he managed to lose them. He avoided the road blocks with ease, nearly laughing at the pitiable attempts of the humans to trap him.

As if a sentient car who could sense the different vehicles, and listen to their radio chatter would let himself be caught.

Sideswipe tracked the following police officer, and then discarded the information. They weren't going to catch him.

He slipped and glided through the traffic like a wraith, moving smoothly and easily, silver paint glinting in the sun.

It was midday when he skidded to a halt, feeling like he was about to offline spontaneously. Pain wracked his frame, with a lot in his back and optics.

Suddenly, he could feel Sunstreaker. The silver car perked up, the pain instantly taking second place in his mind, and shouted through the bond. _:Sunny?:_

He felt the confusion and a hint of rage. _:Sideswipe?:_

_:Sunny!:_ he yelled, excited and happy – his twin had found him, he had found his way to Earth!

_:Don't call me that, half-bit!: _

_:Sunny, Sunny, Sunny!:_

_:Shut it!:_

The silver car's spark leapt in joy, immediately broadcasting his joy to his slightly homicidal twin. Sunny wasn't as overjoyed – but he was the type of bot to hide his emotions until a torrential backlash of crazed emotions washed out of him. Sideswipe could tell his twin was pleased – he wouldn't have come to earth if he didn't need to see Sideswipe.

He talked to his twin for a few astroseconds, sending continuous streams of data to and from each other. The engine of the silver car faltered. _:Why does it feel different?:_

_:Pit if I know,: _his twin growled out. Sideswipe could hear the slight tint of fear in the other mech's bond voice.

A quick sense of a red optic, pain, and a name. _Shockwave_.

_:What was that? Shockwave? What did that fragging glitch do?: _

He got the sense of irritation, and a mental kick to the head before another wave of pain, and Sunstreaker disappeared.

_:Sunny? Sunny!: _The silver 'bot cranked out an extra turn of speed, hoping that that would bring his brother back. No luck.

Determination flowed through him. He'd break into S7 and tear it to shreds – they had his twin. He'd kill them all.

* * *

**Alex**

There was a lot of clicking and chirping, enough to make me think I was crazy. I could swear I was hearing two robots but there was only one robot here. That didn't mean they weren't talking through a radio or some sort of external communicator.

It was like I could hear it in my head though - not my ears.

It was like the conversation was at the back of my mind, taking up space. The more chattering there was, the more powerful it was, and the longer it went on, the more focused on the clicks and whistles I was.

With some difficulty, I managed to shove it to the back of my mind again, pushing it back _hard_.

Peace, and quiet.

My attention darted to the more important idea at the moment - I could _see._

I trembled softly, cold despite the heat of the air and the black asphalt. I wasn't sure how, but I could still see – which should have been impossible.

Staring around the road, I watched the robot jerk as if hit, and suddenly my vision started to blur, bleeding into black.

"No!" I cried out, hating my lack of vision. Even though I had only been seeing for a minute at most, I hated the idea of retreating to my black world.

My fingers spasmed, in a vain attempt to retain my sight.

The last thing I saw was the giant red and yellow robot, eyes glowing a demonic red.

When the world was completely black again, I sunk against the ground, crushed. I was shocked at how strong the hate was for my dark world, how terrible and perfectly horrible the blackness was.

I hated it, with my whole being. As the world went completely black again, I felt another click in my head. That wasn't normal, was it? Feeling clicks in your head?

Why? Why were the robots after me? What had I ever done to them? I had only been in the wrong place at the wrong time – not enough to ruin a life over.

There was a loud noise – probably the giant metal robot stepping around. I curled back to the asphalt, sobbing again.

Damn these female hormones!

"Frag – Sideswipe, you glitch! You just had to run off to this dirty little mud ball of a planet, and get slag in all my joints and creases."

A weird clinking sound and the voice continued muttering lowly, with a lot of the same curses that Sides had used. Which was really weird?

I'd been kidnapped/saved by a gaming fanatic?

I kept low, hoping that the robot would leave me alone, and just leave with the vehicle that I'd been stuffed into.

A tiny sob escaped me, and I could almost feel the anger of the robot – which was insane. Robots didn't have feelings. I must be going crazy.

Yup. Going crazy.

"Fragging flesh-bag. Do I off-line it now, or do I let it bleed all over my interior?"

I swallowed heavily. Off-lining sounded bad. My eyebrows furrowed slightly. _My _interior? Was this the person inside the vehicle? What a weirdo.

I felt all jumbled up inside, like I wanted to run and fight and do all sorts of things. But I couldn't. I was paralysed with fear. Stuck, in a never-ending night.

When they said off-line, did they mean…kill? That was taking the gaming terms a little far, right?

I didn't want to die, I really didn't.

After a little while, it was like the person had come to a decision.

They stormed off in their vehicle, making a lot of noise. I wondered where the robot had gone – perhaps it was still here, merely deactivated? That made some sense, although I didn't know why they'd leave it here. It was probably expensive, right?

I tried to stand up, shaky on my feet. Hunger growled in my stomach, and I was still bleeding a little bit, even though it had slowed considerably.

I had probably lost a lot of blood – if I passed out, it wouldn't be pretty.

My head spun as I tried to stand up. The world, though it was dark, lurked sickeningly, and I vomited. There was next to nothing in my stomach, but it didn't matter.

I wiped my mouth with my bare arm, and held my stomach with the other hand, coughing. I parked myself on the road, and used my left hand to stabilize myself, my right to explore the wound carefully.

It didn't feel good – pain wracked me as I touched the raw flesh. But the wound was smaller than I had thought it would be – it had felt like they nearly ripped me in two to get the metal out, but I was only feeling a small wound, maybe three inches long, and quite narrow. Dried blood was crusted around the opening, and a few remnants of the sticky fluid coated my fingers.

My brows furrowed. How long had I been in that vehicle? Had it been long enough to heal that much? I could barely get a finger into the wound now, was that much healing normal?

I didn't think so, but I couldn't remember.

I wasn't bleeding anymore as well, which was astonishing. Didn't wounds of the magnitude that I had suffered bleed a lot?

Matter of fact, I should be dead – they had nearly cut into my heart to get that metal, and normal humans died when people tickled their hearts with a bare hand.

So…I wasn't normal? Then, what was I? Standing up slowly, I took a small step, feeling the asphalt beneath my foot, feeling the road dip and sway as I regained equilibrium.

Despite not being a normal human (I suspected), and despite not knowing where my family was, or Macy, I was going to get out of this, alive.

When I had been back at the house, I had decided that life was just so-so, something that I could do without. After all, what good would I be? What could I possibly do?

But now, I wasn't going to go down without a fight. I was a survivor of gigantic robots, of crazed humans trying to take me apart for a science experiment, of a robot being the one to save me. I would not give life the benefit of me dying in the middle of nowhere without even lifting a finger.

I was not going to die after all the shit that life had thrown at me. I would survive.

However I needed to.

Staggering down the road, I moved slowly, carefully, taking my time. I knew that the chances of me reaching civilization were slim, but I had to try.

* * *

**Sunstreaker**

He cruised down the highway, racing forwards, towards the faintest sense of Sideswipe. Moving as swiftly as he could, which was with considerable speed, he raced towards his idiot twin, wanting his spark to be whole again.

Seriously, what was Prime thinking in coming to this mud-hole? He had dirt and grime smeared all over, and scratches in his paint. Sideswipe was so going to be smashed in the head for coming here.

The faint sense of Sideswipe disappeared. He screeched to a halt, rubber tires burning on the ground and leaving skid marks.

Where had that half-bit gone? He had been able to feel Sideswipe, faintly, since he had spoken to him earlier. But now…where was he?

Sunstreaker searched through the bond, digging until he could feel Sideswipe again – in the direction he had left the organic.

_:What the frag?: _he snarled through the bond. _:Sideswipe, you glitch! What in the slagging Pit are you doing?:_

How could his twin suddenly be behind him? It didn't make any sense – he had been going towards Sideswipe, and now…Sideswipe was behind him.

Since Sideswipe had no teleporting abilities to speak of, it was impossible that he'd be behind him.

The golden 'bot pulled a fast U-turn, racing back towards the organic, towards his brother's signal. The signal seemed to also engage a small bit of him, which was aggravating the golden warrior. Why was his signal coming from a slagging organic squishy?

He drove forwards quickly, and then slid to a halt when the faintest sense of Sideswipe pulled at his bond. From behind him.

This was fragging insane.

He turned again, racing back towards the faint sense of Sideswipe. Again, it disappeared in the same location as before.

The golden yellow car slid to a stop, and moved back until he could feel both, the faintest of pressures in his spark, pulling it opposing ways.

"Frag it."

The squishy was somehow involved with this, he just knew it. What had the fragging organic done to Sideswipe? To him?

He'd have to get the fragging organic, and then he'd be able to hunt Sideswipe down.

Racing back the other way, he paused at the place the organic had been. There were a few flecks of blood, and a tiny trail.

Primus frag it, this squishy was trouble. He should just off-line the thing, hunt Sideswipe down and knock the fragging idiot out.

Scanning the area, he found the squishy. It was directly ahead, staggering all over the road. He growled, the sound translating as his engine snarling angrily.

He roared up behind it, and slammed on the brakes, opening the door as he slid, snatching the human into his passenger seat by knocking the backs of its legs with his body.

It made a lot of noise and squeaked, arms flailing as it tripped backwards into his seat, leaving _more _marks on the sleek leather. In disgust, he strapped the seatbelts around it, containing it from squirming around his insides.

He could feel Sideswipe again, could follow the faint trace like a map.

Once he reached his twin, he'd off-line the little organic. Then, the twins could work on fixing their bond.

The little squishy started flailing again and he barked at it in Cybertronian.

"Frag it, squishy, stay still – you're getting body fluids all over my leather interior!"

It stilled, as if it actually heard him. Then it haltingly asked a question.

"You…where are you taking me? Why?"

He didn't answer, intent on Sideswipe, and reaching his twin.

The flesh-bag started jerking around again, and he snarled.

"Slag it, move again, and I'll eject you, got it?" he growled, swerving from side to side quickly, jostling the organic.

It nodded, fear saturating it. The thing's heart rate was high, as was its breathing rate.

Sunstreaker got bored of the fear very quickly – he was sure it was clogging up his leather seats.

One of the metal seatbelts smacked the organic in the head. It slumped, instantly boneless.

He glared internally at the stupid organic, messing up his seats. When he got to Sideswipe, he was going to force his twin to find a good cleaning place around here. Or get Sideswipe to do it.

Immediately, the engines slowed. Sideswipe's mental presence was gone. Like before, when he couldn't sense it at all. Now, all he could sense was the squishy, with his HUD saying that it _was_ Sideswipe.

He almost hit it harder, to off-line it permanently so that Sideswipe would show up again. A small thought pestered him though. If this organic had something to do with the odd feeling to the bond, and he off-lined it for good, it would make it more difficult to track down his idiot.

Sunstreaker growled. If he off-lined the thing now, would he lose any connection to Sideswipe? That was unthinkable. He would _not_ lose Sideswipe due to some glitching organic who had a messed up processor. This was just fantastic.

The yellow Lamborghini roared forwards again. He knew that Sideswipe was still in this direction. He'd just continue this way until the fragging organic onlined again, and then he'd find his way to Sideswipe.

* * *

**S7 Headquarters**

Q was examining the files that AS-three had managed to get through to. The man was quite a talented hacker… A man coming into the room immediately had his thoughts shifting to the back of his mind, ready to contemplate more on when he had a little more time.

"Sir, we have just received a report that NoBEC-one and NoBEL-one are en route to meeting each other, ETA three hours at current speeds."

Q's eyes flickered once. Was it time to join the game as a more active participant? Or should he wait for the original Stage Three?

The slender man thought it through carefully.

If NoBEC-one and NoBEL-one met up, what was the worst that they could do? Cause a little havoc, destroy some of the other NBE's, and possibly show up on the news. Not that bad, really. So why was his gut feeling so against them meeting up?  
Something in his body went cold and clenched in a bad way at the thought of the two together. Why was it bad if NoBEC-one and NoBEL-one rejoined? He wasn't sure now, but his intuition was telling him it was bad – very bad.

Alexandra Wells would have two guardians instead of one psychotic robot. But why did they want her? Granted, he wanted her for research and experimentation, but the aliens had no use for a human for research.

They were supposed to be the good guys – was saving a civilian part of that? But he hadn't saved any of the other civilians in the base, nor any of the other experimental humans. So what was so special about Alexandra Wells?

NoBEL-one wasn't a warring faction of the _Autobots_, was it? No – the small symbol on its hood indicated that it was one of the self-proclaimed 'good guys.' As if – the only thing Q wanted to do was blow them all to smithereens.

He tapped his fingers in a complicated rhythm on the desk in front of him. NoBEL-one had been injured in taking Alexandra Wells – some fluids had been lost, and from what they knew of the aliens, they only had so much within them. NoBEL-one had lost a lot, and had leaked during its whole confrontation with S7. It would have to refuel somewhere, and he had the license plate. This could be their best chance to take down NoBEL-one.

A few more moments of contemplation, and he decided what he was going to do. The man tapped a finger on to the button in front of him. "Q to Hangar Three – ready for deployment."

The man in the hangar sent back a quick replay, and Q elaborated swiftly.

"I want groups one to three deployed immediately, with the priority being to sidetrack NoBEL-one, and have it travel north, away from the other groups. Have the hackers in K2 search out the license plate 'SUNSTKR.' It will be on the back of a Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4. Canary yellow."

Apparently, NoBEL-one was a little on the ostentatious side.

The scans done on NoBEL-one indicated that it didn't have communication technology enabled. If he could move NoBEL-one north, chances of it joining up with its colleagues were diminished. Separate them one by one, it would be easier to take them out.

He didn't have enough firepower to keep NoBEL-one contained for long, and it would be too much of a hassle when they were moving to a new location soon anyways. This one was compromised.

But if he separated NoBEL-one and NoBEC-one, it would be easier to kill them both, he was sure of it now. Something in his gut was telling him he was right.

He still needed an alien to experiment on, but these two were dangerous. It was obvious to him that he'd be dealing the…_Autobots_…a severe blow if he managed to take out these two aliens.

He'd start with NoBEL-one. And once he took it out, he'd be free to experiment on her until there was nothing left.

* * *

AN: Jeez, Q tends to talk a lot – but did I expect any different? No, not really. Stupid Q. If anyone has ideas on what Q stands for (not Bond…), or even niggling thoughts on the chapter, I'd be thrilled to hear them!

AN2: She was seeing infrared – hence, his eyes and chest are a lot hotter, due to more energon racing through them, so they appear red. Sunny isn't a 'con (although, where she's concerned, he might as well be…).


	9. Fugo

**Chapter 9: Fugo**

(Latin: _put to flight, chase away, drive into exile, pursue_)

* * *

AN: Hey, guys! We cracked 100 reviews already! The amount of support I get is just amazing, and I'm glad so many people take the time to let me know what they think of my little brain-farts. :) I'm so glad everyone enjoys this just as much as I am! You guys are all beautiful and wonderful!

The big meeting is coming ever closer! Soon, soon the twins will be re-united! Yay! So, before, with the twin's bond-talk, I used _:blah: _and now I'm changing that to _::blah::_, okay? So it is more easily distinguishable.

**Terms**

Klik – 1.2 minutes

Groon: approximately one hour

Astrosecond - .273 seconds

Cycle: one day

Mechanometer: about a meter

Hic: about 0.62 miles

NBE-one: Megatron

NBE-seven: Bumblebee

* * *

**Sideswipe**

He raced along the highway, his spark exhilarating in the feeling of coming closer to Sunny. His twin was in the same direction as Alex, and it only made the thrill greater. His spark was singing, vibrating with happiness and readiness to fight.

A click in his HUD caught his attention. He opened the comm. link, expecting the voice that spoke.

Prime's voice was calm, as always. _"Sideswipe, report."_

Through the comm., his voice was all business._ "Currently tracing a lead to m-the human femme, Alexandra Wells. A group of humans calling themselves Sector Seven has taken her and her family."_

The Prime's voice was immediately colder, and more deadly. _"Sector Seven was disbanded after the events of Mission City." _The last words were a bit softer; Optimus reminiscing on the battle which had cost them one of their own.

"_Yeah, I'm wondering if these are the same lunatics or another group using the name."_

"_Sideswipe, wait for backup. I'm sending out Ironhide." _Not happening.

A tiny smirk would have crossed his faceplates if he was able to smirk in alt-mode. _"What was that Prime? The connection seems a little glitchy – you said go, right?" _He added some crackles and pauses to his words.

"_Sideswip-,"_ and then he cut the connection.

If it was a trap (which it probably was), he was eager to get there, and spring it.

There was no way he was going to slow down now – only one groon, and he'd be storming the place and freeing the tiny organic that someone had been stupid enough to take. Besides, it had been too long since he had a good fight.

And after he got her back, he'd go find Sunny. From the partial bond earlier, he knew that Sunny was in the same general region as Alex. He could still feel Sunny, in the same direction about the human – he was going in the right direction.

Maybe he should go and find Sunny, and then get her back? But if he did that, then who knew what would happen to her? She was primarily defenseless, not like Sunstreaker.

Sunstreaker could definitely take care of himself. And Sunny wasn't known for rational thought – when he saw Sideswipe again, he might possibly beat the slag out of him for not looking for him. And then it might be a while before he was completely repaired enough to find her.

Yet together the two of them were much stronger. Should he find Sunny first?

He had a feeling that Sunstreaker wouldn't care all that much about a human though – so he might not be so into the idea of saving one. He'd probably find them dirty, disgusting (Which, they were, in a way. There was so much maintenance in keeping them alive, and such a fussy homeostasis baseline.) and not worth his time.

And the humans who took her might move – he had no way to track her if they moved. So he needed to get her back. It wasn't like Sunny was going anywhere, other than trying to find him too.

He'd get her back, and then find his twin by following that tug in his spark, an odd blend of the normal bond.

* * *

**Alex**

I moaned, softly. My eyes ached, and my back throbbed. I could feel the location of every scar on my body, each one in flaming agony. _My head…_ It felt like I had been steam-rolled by a dump truck. Where was I? The roar of an engine, quickly accelerating, made me realize the answer to that one. I was with the psycho kidnapper-slash-saviour who had taken me away from the freaks that cut me open and took my family and my dog.

At the thought of my family, my stomach clenched, and I felt like hurling all over the seats, regardless of what the prissy kidnapper would do when they saw the vomit on the seats. I felt physically ill, body trembling violently and shaking.

"Fragging finally!" The voice came from the front of the car, but there was something odd about it. Did the man have his head close to the steering wheel or something?

The car accelerated swiftly, and I was pressed back against the seats, stuck to them as the speed increased.

My stomach roiled. The car continued, driving as fast as it could possibly go, and I was stuck to the seat.

I rubbed at my arm with my right hand, and then froze at the feeling of flesh against my right forearm. I wasn't wearing a shirt. I hadn't been wearing a shirt for some time now.

Immediately, I was covering my chest with my arms, even though at this point it really didn't feel like it mattered all that much. Who knew how long I'd been unconscious?

I felt better not flashing the world though.

Why wasn't… Oh, the terrorists. At the thought of them, my whole body shuddered, clenching low in my belly. My _bare_ belly. As I stewed, I shifted in my seat, prompting a bark from the person in the driver's seat.

"Sit still!" And a lot of harsh, crackling sounds that made my spine chill and the hair on the back of my neck rise.

What was that?

Another issue became apparent to me.

My bladder was about to explode.

And now that I had thought about it, it was all I could do to hold it in, and imagine waterfalls, and water and streams and drips from faucets…

Summoning my courage, hoping that the person in the vehicle with me didn't take offense to what I said, and knock me out again, I spoke, quietly. "Um… I need to go to the bathroom." I didn't add the threat to that - or else I would go in the car. No need to state threats, right?

The person with me didn't answer. I merely got the sense that they were irritated with something – maybe I was crazy for thinking that.

I swallowed, and tried again. "I really need to…you know…pee."

"Urinate?" The whole vehicle seemed to shudder. "Primus fragging _organics_ are disgusting! Bodily excretion is revolting! And you…Oh no, you don't!"

Immediately, the car screeched to a halt. I was flung outside, and I landed hard, scratching my face against the asphalt.

A small groan came from my throat, and I ran my hand across the gash on my cheek. It was stinging, and small chunks of grit were in the flesh. I groaned again, and sat up.

"Well? Do your disgusting business, organic, and then get back in. We're finding my twin."

I swallowed.

"Is there a bathroom here?" I said quietly, still sitting on the road, clenching my muscles because I was about to pee myself.

The person sighed. "Primus, you organics are fussy."

I bit my lip, before finally pulling my pants down – it wasn't like I had a shirt on either. By this point though – hours and hours of no shirt, and no groping or any lewd comments – I was quite desensitized to not having a shirt on, weird as that may be. Although, first chance I got, I was putting a shirt on. Possibly for the rest of my life. I never wanted to be without one again.

I crouched a little, and peed. It was possibly the best feeling in the whole world – like all the pressure I had been feeling was gone. I had a scrap of Kleenex in my pocket, which had to suffice for toilet paper.

It was gross, but I felt so much better. A small sigh escaped my lips as I zipped my pants back up.

"Done? Get back in."

The person sounded very grumpy. I moved back towards the vehicle (which felt like a car, a low slung model) and stuck my hands out, feeling for the side.

I heard the engine roar. "Primus, get your hands down! Don't touch me; you'll get oils and fluids all over the paintjob!"

Immediately, I put my hands back down, and halted. The car made a lot of noise, and I heard the tires spinning on the ground.

Something hit me behind the legs, and I fell into the car, smashing the back of my head on the central console. The door slammed shut, locking me in. I licked my dry lips, and moved myself around so I was sitting in the seat. Immediately the seatbelt slapped around me.

"Stop moving, flesh-bag," the voice growled.

I stilled, covering my chest with my arms. Those hands were not moving until I managed to get a shirt of some sort.

My stomach clenched as I thought about my family, my dog; the thoughts racing into my head with fervor.

They must be so scared, trapped with those insane scientists. The idea of them being experimented on like I had was terrifying. And Macy! I would kill anyone who hurt her; I'd tear them to shreds with my bare hands, and tear out their eyes.

I blinked rapidly trying to keep my eyes from tearing up. It was useless.

I was going to cry; crazed scientists with no moral compasses were going to be set loose on my family, or had already. I was trapped with a psycho who was overly obsessed with his paint job and interior, who had shocked me in the back with electricity. And the giant robot! Did he have one too? Why was all this happening to me? I swallowed again, the bravery of ripping people to shreds disappearing into tears.

He was going to kill me. I didn't know anything overly useful, didn't have any special talents and couldn't even see the damn robot to tell the police anything when I got free. Although chances of that happening were extremely slim.

I bit my lower lip fiercely to keep myself focussed here and now, and not break down into tears. The pain helped a little bit, but I still felt the clenching feeling in my throat and stomach, like I was about to throw up.

My thoughts spiraled down the worst things that could happen. Everyone but me could be killed. My whole family could be screaming in pain _right now_, getting their stomachs ripped open like they had done to me, screaming and writhing in pain, going hoarse.

I choked, fighting back a sob. My chest clenched tightly, and I stuffed my fist into my mouth, biting it harshly.

If they killed my family…I'd have nothing left. How would I go on?

Then again, chances were that I'd die here. So the best thing to hope for was that all of us would get out of this, but I doubted it.

If I didn't make it, I just wanted my family to live; I wasn't going to be selfish and hope for my survival too.

I was just a burden on my parents. I didn't have a job, had no way to support myself, and was still learning Braille.

It wouldn't bother them all that much if I died. I mean, sure, they'd cry and be crushed, but if it was a case of whether I survived or they did, I definitely wanted them to survive.

No one needed me. No one relied on me.

I was just existing, living day by day.

Sitting in the car, travelling at speeds that were probably illegal (although I wasn't sure of that), I shuddered, pulling my feet up on to the seat and wrapping my arms around them. My stomach trembled from the force of my silent sobs, and I was terrified.

My family…would I ever see them again? I wasn't too confident in the notion.

I could only hope. Could only hope that someday soon I'd see them again, and they'd be completely fine, and the only one that had been tortured was me.

After all, I wasn't even sure if I had been dreaming; only hallucinating the whole thing. I hoped that to be the alternative – instead of being naked from the waist up, trapped with a psycho who had electrocuted me. I hoped that someone had slipped me hallucinogens, and that I was completely tripping out right now, and I was still strapped to a table.

My chest clenched in a weird way, like the organ would break into a million pieces. I gasped at the odd pain, and tugged my knees tighter to my chest.

I didn't want to be back on the table, I didn't want to be here. I wanted to be at home with my parents, drinking hot chocolate and listening to good music with Macy's head under my hand. I wanted to be walking around the block with Macy, thinking and dreaming and crying once in a while. I wanted to sit in my room and read my Braille books, learning about the world through the written word. I wanted to watch the bad TV shows with Dad when he got back from work, and shriek at the horror movies that always managed to scare me due to the sounds.

A sob escaped my lips, and I buried my face in my dirty knees, wiping my nose with my arm. My stomach muscles quivered as I tried to keep it inside.

I wanted to see them, so, so, so much. I wanted them to be okay, and fine. I could take whatever, as long as they were okay.

My eyes streamed, and I wiped them quickly, rubbing my nose on my arm again. My nose was all congested, and I breathed through my mouth.

The car engine stuttered, and I was thrown forward I the seat, thrown out of my morbid thoughts.

"Slag."

"What's wrong?" I asked softly, not trying to hide the fact that I'd been crying. What did they care anyways?

"Out of energon – need some sort of fuel to keep running."

"Energon?" I questioned, wiping my eyes again. Was this car some sort of hybrid that ran on a different sort of energy?

No answer, just the car slowly rolling forwards, for a long time. I dried my eyes, and quit my moping thoughts. It stopped, eventually, and I heard a weird crackling sound, then the door on the driver's side opened, and a person got out.

I spoke towards them, as I heard the window roll down. "Are we at a place with some food I could buy?"

Silence, and then my stomach growled again, loudly.

"Slagging organics," was said quietly, but it sounded like it was coming through the radio. Which I knew full well was crazy. The guy was outside, not in the radio.

A pause, in which my stomach growled again, louder than before.

"You have three minutes."

I sat upright in the seat, and just as I put my hand to the door handle, I froze. I didn't have a shirt on. No shirt. No bra. My arms wrapped around myself tightly. I was not flashing anybody else if I could help it!

Oh my gosh, there was no way in hell that anyone was going to get me out of this car now.

I hunkered down in the seat, hoping and wishing that no one would be able to see me inside the car; that I was invisible; that I somehow genetically mutated into a blind, invisible human.

It was impossible.

"I…don't have a shirt…I can't."

"You have one minute left, then I'm leaving."

"Wait!" I cried out, frantic at the thought of not getting something to eat. Which was the lesser evil? Was I too hungry to care what I was (or, rather, _wasn't_) wearing, or could my hunger wait?

Damn it, I wasn't leaving this car.

I bit my bottom lip, arms wrapped tightly around my top, deliberating.

"I'm going to throw up if I don't get something to eat soon," I informed the person outside the car.

The vehicle revved angrily, still at the gas pump, and I cowered into my seat. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I'm starving!"

"You will _not _vomit in me, you understand?" The voice was cold, yet I could hear the supremely annoyed tint to it as well.

I nodded my head up and down, and swallowed. "I need to eat, then…"

A frustrated sigh that had the car sinking downwards on its wheels. The vehicle didn't move again, and then something hit me in the head. Thankfully, it was soft, so it startled me more than it hurt me.

"Go."

Quickly, I explored the thing that I had been chucked, and discovered a shirt. Perfect. I slipped it on, and darted from the car, the door already open. He must be really eager to get me out. The shirt was a little big, and I still really needed a bra, but a shirt was a lot better than nothing. As I moved, I caught a whiff of the smell of the shirt, and paused. It smelled really strange – like wax, oil and something that made my blood start pumping really fast. I tried not to inhale the possibly-drugged clothing's smell as much as I could, breathing through my mouth.

My hand was on the paint when it shut by itself, and I froze, brain jumping back a year to the last time a car had shut its own door.

_Sides… _I swallowed heavily,

I wanted to meet him again, I wanted to talk and laugh like we had. I wanted to be anywhere but with this psycho of a driver, who consorted with evil people who had created giant robots capable of smashing me into paste.

The horn beeping made me lurch forwards, jumping away from the car. My hand fell from the paint.

I moved from the car, and stood, completely blank. Where was the place? Where was I? How was I to get to the place?

I stepped forwards, and promptly tripped on something beneath my foot.

My knee smashed into the concrete, and I overcompensated, landing on my butt on the concrete. I winced, knowing that I was going to have a bruise there.

I got up, and staggered around, 'looking' for the place. People honked at me, and all I could do was wave in apology, saying "Sorry." Tears were rising in my eyes again, as I stumbled over something else in my path. I felt useless again, a complete waste of life. Why oh why had I survived that robot attack a year ago? Only a few hours ago, I had decided spontaneously that I wanted to live, and had decided to do all I could to make it. But now…stranded in another parking lot, surrounded by loud noises and cars, it was a wonder if I would even make it back to the rescuer-slash-kidnapper.

Probably not. Then again, there was no reason for them to hold me anymore. I could hitch a ride with some other person, and go back to Reno, back to my old home.

With this in mind, brightening my spirits, I immediately took a few more steps forwards, smashing knee-first into a car that was directly in front of me. I moved to the side, and continued walking forwards, arm held out in front of me to (hopefully) stop myself from doing another face-plant into concrete.

After another small eternity of wandering in the parking lot, possibly going in circles, someone helped me out, leading me to the small convenience store. They sounded a little concerned, and I immediately remembered that I had blood on my hands and possibly my face. I thanked them with a smile, and immediately headed for the bathroom in the back – washing my hands thoroughly as well as my face and then using the toilet. I washed my hands again, and moved out into the main area. Had it been three minutes yet? I dug through my jeans, hoping that I had a few dollars with me to buy …_something, _anything at this point. I was starving.

Luckily, I had a ten dollar bill in my pocket from when I had bought a coffee at a café (a different one) with Macy before this whole…shit-fest.

The thought of my dog brought a lump to my throat. I wondered how she was doing – was she scared without me there? Were they treating her alright, the damn bastards?

I forced the thoughts away. I'd get my dog back. And my family.

In the store, I felt along the packages until I got to the chocolate bars. Perfect.

My fingers nimbly picked out four of them (Mars bars), as well as two bottles of cold water. I needed to save the rest of the money (however meager the rest of the sum was, it was all I had) in case the driver refused to stop, or didn't give me any money.

* * *

**S7 Headquarters**

"Sir, we've located the girl and NoBEL-one, sir, stopped at a gas station."

The man sent the pictures of a girl in a yellow shirt purchasing chocolate bars, and some grainy photos of a yellow sports car, license plate clearly readable as 'SUNSTKR'. The quality of the photo was grainy, but Q knew instantly that it was Alexandra Wells.

"Perfect. Are the men ready?"

"Yes sir, ready for your signal."

Q nodded once, eyes sparking with pleasure.

"Squads one, two, three, engage NoBEL-one. Turn it north. Do not engage until I call again."

"Yes sir."

* * *

**Alex**

Once outside, I moved left of the door, and sat down on to the curb. There was no way I was going to be able to find the vehicle that brought me here. I was too confused to remember which way it was. I had turned around and jerked too many times.

I stuffed three of the bars of chocolate into my jeans, and unwrapped one, taking a huge bite of the caramel, nougat and chocolate. I groaned, the taste and flavour rolling over my tongue, coating my teeth in pure delicious flavour. After thoroughly gumming up my mouth with the absolutely delicious chocolate, I took a long, cold drink of water, moaning again at how good it felt, running into my stomach.

I hadn't realized how dehydrated I was until I took that first drink. The other bottle, I carried with me, not wanting to accidentally put it down and lose it in the darkness.

Suddenly, tires crunched as a vehicle pulled up right in front of me, and I heard a door open. A gruff voice. "Get in."

I nodded, ducking my head as I carefully maneuvered my way inside, clutching my bottled water tightly to my clothed chest. The door slipped shut overtop of me, making thoughts of Sides race back through my brain.

Rich guy. I wondered how he was doing. Probably fine, with his fancy car and weird gaming slang…that this guy happened to use as well.

Weird.

The car (I knew for sure it was a car now, it was much too low to the ground to be anything else) accelerated quickly, causing me to swallow once. It sounded like an expensive engine, which just brought the question of who this was. The car veered from side to side, and I swallowed, thinking about the crazy driving of this person. Who I was not exactly thrilled to be around.

They had hurt me (shocking me in the back and shoving me), and then knocked me out and taken me along.

Unless…this was all a dream? After all, I had been _seeing_ yesterday, or whenever I had last been awake. _Seeing_. As in, eyes open, look at the colours and shapes and freaking huge giant robots with giant glowing blades and red eyes type of seeing. I didn't think I could hallucinate that.

But…why had I been seeing? Perhaps it was stress induced, with the help of the shocks? Yeah, that sounded the most logical. Or I had been knocked out, and that was just a crazed dream. After all, I still dreamed sometimes that I could see.

And the shock and stress of being captured and tortured by scientists had just brought about the crazed dreams of seeing giant robots that looked a lot like the ones I had seen a year ago.

Yup.

I hadn't seen. The doctors had deemed it a 'medical impossibility' if I were to ever regain my sight. Whatever had splashed in my eyes had been extremely corrosive and toxic. There was no way I had seen what I had thought I had seen.

Nope. I had been dreaming, or hallucinating while unconscious. And the giant robot hadn't existed. Surely, I just made it up to justify for my pain as the mad scientists cut me open, and ripped out chunks of metal.

My head smacked against the window as the driver pulled some fast moves to get in front of a slower car.

I calmed down after the smack, managing to convince myself it had been a dream. It had been just a dream – albeit an extremely real one.

The little nagging voice in my head whispered, _but you've never dreamed of a _different_ looking robot. It's always the silver one, and this one had strange wings by its face. And you would have a shirt on in dreams._

Fine. It was a drug-induced hallucination, caused by the crazed scientists at the lab. Which is where I probably still was, just completely unconscious.

Yeah. I wasn't free. I was just hallucinating, in a very real, bizarre, able to feel the wind on my skin sort of way.

I forced the voice down. I didn't need to panic. Which is what would happen if I thought about it too long.

My stomach felt queasy again, likely a combination of the chocolate and the terrified thoughts I had just had.

Suddenly, the car jerked to the left, much faster than when we had been driving through the traffic, and the man swore, violently. It was a staccato-rush of noise, peppered with odd clicks and whistles, but I felt like the understanding of it was just out of my reach, like I almost knew what he was saying, but not quite. Chills shot down my spine at the language.

I shivered, and the man snapped at me. "Primus slag it, don't move!"

I didn't know what was going on.

"What's happening?" I asked quietly. So quietly, it was almost like I hadn't spoke at all – there was no way that the man would be able to hear my question. As far as I was concerned, I was just going to sit and be the most boring prisoner this person had ever seen.

And then, when he let me go, I was going to disappear, along with my family, and never, ever come back to this place.

Granted, he saved me, but if I was dreaming… still being back under those knives and crazed, polite and excited doctors all ready to cut me open and see how I worked.

The reality was too difficult to imagine, so I stopped thinking.

"Slagging organics, trying to roadblock _me_," the man muttered, apparently talking to himself. Those weird swirls went up my spine again.

"Roadblock?" I murmured, surprised. Directly after, I was terrified. Roadblock? The scientists were coming after me?

I started hyperventilating. I was going to die, they were going to haul me back in and cut me up again, and once I was back down there, I was never going to get away again. No one would come to help me again – not even this person.

Who had hurt me himself, unless this was a dream…and if it was a dream, I was waking up.

I didn't want to wake up. Here, where there was less pain, and chocolate bars, and bizarre-smelling shirts was better.

I hunkered down in the seat, regardless of the man's snapped order to stay still. Hiding from something you couldn't see was terrible. I'd much prefer to _see_ the danger coming than be completely in the dark and die without seeing.

It was awful.

The man snapped again, but I ignored it. Really, what was the greater evil – shock-man here (who may or may not be a figment of a hallucination), or happy-scientists?

I'd take shock-man.

The car slid and slipped in both directions, throwing me sideways and against the glass again. I knew there'd be another bruise when I was done here.

My eyes burned heavily, blazing hot in my skull. I groaned, and massaged the area with both hands, leaving my water bottles in my lap, legs clenched around them to keep them steady.

I just wanted this all to be _over_.

No more giant robots, messing up my life, no more crazed scientists. I was only eighteen, I wasn't old enough to deal with all of this.

I had barely gotten used to being blind, forget all this slag. My eyes widened, even though I didn't see anything.

Slag? But…but, I never played the game! I had no idea what slag meant! Why did my mental word-vomit slip to _that_? I choked, hoping that the words weren't contagious or something stupid like that.

Then again, my current captor used them – perhaps I was just copying him.

My eyes widened again.

But…I didn't want to copy a figment of my imagination!

Perhaps I just missed Sides? Yeah. That must be it.

Weird, how I actually did miss him, a lot, now that I thought about it. I really, really wanted to see him.

I'd kill to see him again. It had been so long…

My face scrunched up. Maybe I was sick – I felt really weird, and hot. Feverish, almost.

Perhaps I really _was _dreaming after all, about to wake up in an evil scientist's grip, knives poised to slice my chest to the bone and take out my heart.

"Fragging _organic _flesh_-_bags," the voice snarled angrily, startling me out of my thoughts.

"What is it?" I asked timidly. Even though this person seemed to be kind enough to let me out to get food, they had still had a giant robot electrocute me.

I pulled the shirt tighter around myself, really hoping he didn't have the idea to eject me for talking again.

He didn't answer, and in all honesty, I hadn't really expected him to. He wasn't the talking type. Not like Sides.

Another pang sliced at me, aching in my chest. I _needed_ him, needed him like air. Panic washed through me again, my heart rate escalating.

The driver cranked the wheel again, and I careened to the left, throwing my hands out to stabilize myself.

It was a testament to how intent he was on driving that he didn't say anything about my fingers on his door and leather.

* * *

**Sideswipe**

He was wavering. The human would be alright for the day it would take him to reach Sunny, right? Yeah – nothing overly terrible could happen to her in just one cycle, right?

Yeah. She'd be fine.

He _needed_ to see Sunny; his spark was _screaming_ to see his other half, to feel right and whole once more.

After all, didn't two work better than one?

So that was that. He'd go and get Sunny (whom he could feel in the direction that she was in), and then they'd (or just him, but he was sure he'd be able to convince Sunny through the idea of fighting) go after her and get her back.

Yup.

_::I'm coming Sunny, I'm coming.::_

* * *

**Sunstreaker**

He could feel the little slimy organic's digits groping his interior, and it was almost enough to make him toss the little thing through the door head-first. But the thought of losing the only link to Sideswipe, and being continually tugged towards this slimy little creature was enough to stay his door.

He swerved headlong around another green SUV, shuddering at the thought of looking like _that._

A tiny warning popped up on his HUD, signalling low energy. He slammed the warning down, angrily revving his engine to move faster; race around the traffic faster; reach Sideswipe quicker.

The fuel that the organics used for their vehicles was inferior. He was burning through it at a much faster rate than energon, and it was taking its toll. He only had enough for about a groon.

When he crash-landed on the planet, he'd ripped a few lines, and leaked out a few liters of energon and some coolant before managing to patch the areas with enough to keep them from (hopefully) spewing his last remaining fluids all over the road.

Yet another reason to not transform – the patches might come loose. He didn't really feel like leaking all over the road, and off-lining even faster.

The golden-yellow car raced through traffic, irritated that the human blockade was making him move north a little bit. He couldn't transform and not squish the link to Sideswipe currently bouncing around inside his interior.

It was faster in this mode too – much faster. He raced forwards, ignoring the warning in his vision.

The little flesh-creatures were tenacious, he'd give them that. They were following him in packs, and quite a few of them. They had flying vehicles following him as well, quick swift compared to the slow speed of their vehicles.

It was annoying, but it wasn't like it was anything that he couldn't outrun.

They weren't anything more than a nuisance. He needed to reach Sides, and these pests were merely hindering his course. Yet their strategy of pushing him away from Sides was even more frustrating.

If they got too close, he'd transform and tear them out of the sky. So far, they'd merely made it so that he _couldn't_ continue on the same road and meet Sides. It was as if they knew that he was trying to reach his twin.

If he had communications, he'd have contacted his twin and torn these flying pests to the ground.

He couldn't transform because it would take too much energy, and fighting would take even more. If he ran out of energy here, those slimy little creatures would get their hands on the squishy organic he'd gone to so much trouble to break out, and then he wouldn't have enough energy to escape.

Pain in the aft.

He streaked along, racing past other cars and trucks, admiring his glossy coat in one particularly shiny car before darting past it, easily doing double what the other vehicles were.

He could _feel _Sideswipe, in front of him, calling to his spark like a siren.

That was enough incentive to race through the roadblock, making organics jump to the sides in case he drove over them. He snorted. Like he wanted their liquid interiors on his tires. Then again, if one was stupid enough to stay in front of him, he wasn't averse to driving over them.

The golden warrior darted forwards again, scanning the area around him as much as he was able. The small organics in their flying vehicles were organizing a roadblock three hics down the road, hoping that he'd be forced north. As if – he was going to get to his twin. No matter what.

Some little organics wouldn't be enough to stop him.

Sunstreaker growled as the low energy warning flashed up again, much more incessantly this time. He had one klik, and then he'd offline from severe energy deficiency.

He could feel Sideswipe again, and his spark was thrumming with the closeness of its other half. It felt a little strange, but he wasn't going to fight the feeling.

The golden car raced forwards, and then his engine faltered. He snarled at the faulty fuel that the organics used, and how useless it was. The car forced another rev out of his engine, and felt it choke, coughing out. Red warnings raced across his HUD and he managed to limp to the side of the road, watching the flying vehicles and cars come closer to him. Another snarl escaped his engine at the thought of _more_ organics getting their slimy, sticky fluids on his paintjob. Sideswipe _so_ owed him for this.

Suddenly, he felt Sideswipe again. :_:Sunny!::_

_::Don't call me that, you glitch,:: _he managed, before offlining entirely.

* * *

**S7 Squad One**

The thin woman watched the exquisite car – painted in flaming yellow that shifted from brilliantly sunshine yellow to a rich golden colour in the light – smash into a guardrail, and screech along the metal side of the road, narrowly avoiding driving off the side of the bridge.

She spoke into her specially modified phone.

"Sir, NoBEL-one has stopped moving entirely. We're going in."

"Very well." Q sounded happy – as happy as he could ever be. "Make sure you freeze it with the same as used on NBE-one and NBE-seven. We don't want it to damage any more of our men. And we know it to be a good fighter. Take extra precautions. Get AS-three back as well."

She nodded once, and replied sharply. "Yes sir."

* * *

**Sideswipe**

The human would have to wait. He could _feel _Sunstreaker, too close to go after the human right now. Sunstreaker was just too close – he _needed _to go after him, he needed to find his brother.

Alex would just have to wait.

His brother came first.

A comm. link channel opened and he opened it absently, an extra rev in his engine as he registered the mech on the other side of the line.

"_Where the frag are you, you little glitch?! I barely finished repairing you from your altercation with Barricade, and you disappear?! I'm going to weld your aft to the wall when you show your faceplates around here! I'll hunt you down if you don't get your aft back here _this instant_!"_

Sideswipe barely faltered in his head-long rush towards his brother as Hatchet's angry voice blasted through his internal communications. He could _feel_ his twin, his other half, his spark pulsing more firmly and safely with every mechanometer he drove. There was no way he was going to stop and go back now.

"_Hey Ratch, miss you too."_

"_You slagging little glitch, get your aft back here before I permanently weld it to your own personal table!"_

Sideswipe dodged a particularly slow-moving semi, and then raced past a small van, admiring his reflection in the shiny paint as he roared past.

"_Funny."_ He mused over the comm. line. _"I thought I already had a permanent spot – does writing my name on one count?"_

"_You fragging half-bit glitch for a processor! I ought to break you down into a toaster!"_

"_I'd be a sexy toaster. But I prefer to stay as I am Ratch, the sexy as hell Corvette."_ He added a little engine rev to the communication.

An update on his HUD showed up; Prime wanted to talk to him. He opened the line, ignoring Ratchet's sputtering and roaring from the other line. Hatchet would just have to wait.

"_Sideswipe. Where are you currently?"_

"_Prime, Sunny's on earth, and I'm going to him." _ He couldn't dampen the excitement coursing through him, leaking into the communication. _ "And then retrieving the human."_

"_Sunstreaker was the mech that landed yesterday evening?"_ The Prime's voice was excited, due to the presence of another Autobot, and a little, tiny bit of concern. The Terrible Two were to be re-united, after the longest period of time that they had been separated.

"_Yes – I'm en route to his location."_

"_Why was I not informed earlier? And why can I not reach him through comm. linking?"_

"_Too busy – I forgot." _Sideswipe careened around another slow-moving pick-up truck. _"And I think something happened to him. I can barely feel him as well."_

Prime's voice was contemplative. _"How long until you meet up with him?"_

"_Less than a klik."_

"_Very well. Keep me updated. We shall have words when you and Sunstreaker return to base."_

He shut off the link with Prime, feeling a tiny bit apprehensive about the coming tongue-lashing, but dismissed it. Prowl wasn't here, and Prime's lectures just didn't have the same snap as the SIC's. He fed more power to his already straining engine. The silver car raced through the traffic, swerving in front of other cars, and nearly causing more than a few accidents.

The bond was suddenly open again. Sideswipe sped up, racing faster towards where his other half was.

_::Sunny!:: _he shouted through the bond, and was delighted at the answer.

_::Don't call me that, you glitch,:: _his twin snapped, before disappearing again. The silver car raced even faster, and opened the link with Ratchet, where the yellow-painted mech was still going strong. Sideswipe felt a lot better – even the thought of seeing his twin again was invigorating to his spark. He was close – within a few kliks of his twin.

Ratchet's voice burst into his processor.

"_When I get my servos on your rust-marked aft, I'm going to chop it into pieces and sell them to the humans as spoons! What kind of half-glitched, scrap-welded, two-bit processor decides that it's a good idea to ditch the base for extended periods of time, and race after humans?!"_

The sheer length of time the medic could rant for was amazing, like a special talent all on its own. A tiny flicker of warmth in the silver twin's spark for the angry medic.

"_Hey, Ratchet, I'm back. Miss me?"_

"_Like a batch of bad energon, you glitch. When you get back here, I'm hauling your aft in for a complete physical. And I do mean _complete._ Got it?" _The medic seemed to snarl the last words.

"_Crystal, Hatchet, crystal. Make sure you scan Sunny too, okay?" _He added the last bit slyly, just waiting for the volatile-tempered medic's response. Ratchet didn't disappoint.

Without missing a beat, Ratchet spoke, voice weary. _"Oh, Primus help us all."_

* * *

AN: I uh… figured out how long this thing is going to be, probably. And right now that number is in the 300k+ ball-park area. How this happened, I do not know.

So…what's going to happen!? May I just add that I love Ratchet? :)


	10. Invidia

**Chapter 10: Invidia**

(Latin: _jealousy_)

* * *

AN: So, italic text in _::blah::_ or _"blah"_ is Cybertronian. _::blah::_ is speaking through the bond, and "_blah_" is normal speech. You know…out loud, or through the comms.

One anonymous reviewer mentioned that they thought Q stood for Quiggly. And I nearly had a heart attack through my giggles imagining it. Quiggly?! Tom Selleck, Quiggly? Quiggly Down Under? I was flattered and horrified. My bad guy comes across as a badass, I can handle. But my bad guy is a good guy? Well…I might need to work on that… Eh heh… (Sorry guys…)

Can I just say that I _love _this chapter?

**Terms**: Hics: 0.6 miles

Breem: 8.3 minutes

Astrosecond: .27 seconds

NoBEC-one – Sideswipe

NoBEL-one – Sunstreaker (I love the irony of his name – it fits so well!)

* * *

**Alex**

My shirt disappeared at the same time as the car went still after a massive collision that had me dazed and dizzy. The man wasn't saying anything. I spoke quietly, a slight hint of anger and fear in my voice as the car sat still, hands darting up to cover my chest.

"Where's my shirt?"

No answer. I felt over the driver's side, intent on getting the shirt back. How had they made it disappear all of a sudden? They couldn't have stolen it off my back while I wasn't looking, right?

Loud crashes outside made me flinch, and cower in the passenger's seat.

I paused for a few moments, and then resumed my attempt to feel the guy in the driver's seat, and make him give me my shirt back. One hand was kept across my chest. Nervousness swelled within me, as well as an odd sort of excitement. Like I was happy to be naked. Which I was most definitely _not_. After this, I was never going to take off _any_ clothes.

Ever.

My questing fingers hit the other door. I blinked once, and then frowned incredulously. That was impossible! Where was the driver?

Frantically, I felt up and down the leather seat, feeling for the elusive driver. Nothing.

He'd been talking to me – there _had _to be a driver!

I swallowed. I must have been knocked out again. Yeah. And he was just outside, peeing or some other inane thing like that. Maybe he was buying gas. Maybe…

No. I was still on drugs, and I was hallucinating this whole thing. After all, shirts don't just disappear, and neither do drivers. The car _had_ to have a driver. Yeah. I was hallucinating.

I staggered out of the car, after fumbling with the odd, flipping up door. Sure. This made perfect sense in a wacked-out LSD trip.

Soon, the drugs would wear off, and I'd be confronted with reality. Yeah.

Which involved being strapped to a table and dissected while still alive.

That was starting to sound better than this freak show.

Was I insane?

I staggered down the road, still covering my chest with one hand, just in case I wasn't tripping out and this _was_ my reality, however unrealistic it seemed. I mean, really, driverless cars? Disappearing shirts?

No way.

I moved even further down the road, and was thrown to the ground when a loud crash came from behind me, and the clicking-whirring sounds I had come to associate with the robots appeared.

Of course this would happen – after all, a nightmare is only scary when you can't see what is coming, even if you _know_ what it is.

And in my case, knowing was as bad as not being able to see.

There was a weird ringing sound, and explosions. Heat lapped at my face, and a wind blew my hair around wildly. I lifted myself off the ground, and coughed at the smoke and ash in my mouth.

Tires squealed wildly, and the racket of machine guns whipped at my ears.

Through my fear, the oddest sense of glee filled me, like there was no other place on earth I'd rather be, no place than at my brother's side.

But Jace wasn't here. I shook the feeling away and continued my path away from the driverless car.

What was up with the explosions and robot-sounds? Had the scientists found me?

Was I just imagining all of this, drugged out and tripping? Sounded good to me.

Another loud crash right above my head, and heat washed through me again. Pain lanced through my shoulder, and I felt the hot gush of blood across my hand, still wrapped across my chest.

* * *

**Sideswipe**

Once he was back at base, he was going to have Ratchet scan his optics – there must be a virus or something wrong with them, because when he'd first scanned the area, an organic had shown up as Sunstreaker. And not just _any_ organic, but Alexandra Wells. He'd balked at first as a screenshot of the organic came up and he recognized her face, surrounded by a light blue glow, indicating her to be Sunstreaker.

As he scanned the area again, he knew when he had found his errant twin though – a smoking, sporty Lamborghini in a sunshine yellow colour was off to the side of the road, no driver. That had to be him. The clincher was the license plate, caught by sharp optics running in battle-mode. 'SUNSTKR' – no more doubts.

There were no humans, other than the one racing down the road, showing up as Sunny. That was probably due to the road blocks set up behind Sunny that the golden mech had managed to get past. Those S7 people were obviously after Alex. But what did Sunstreaker have to do with any of that?

He'd found his brother – off-lined on the side of the road, the slaggin' lazy fragger. Concern had raced through him, but he knew that Sunstreaker was fine (other than the smoke), so now it was just teasing.

_::Sunny! No time for rechargin' now,:: _he shouted through the bond, and the comm., as he transformed, leaping into the air and swiping at the lowest flying helicopter. Air washed his armour as he jumped, sword swinging with precision to slice the rotors off the helicopter.

The green-painted machine spiralled down like a leaf, before smashing into the ground and exploding, sending a massive fireball into the sky that his optics automatically dimmed a little.

The silver warrior scanned the horizon, optics flickering as he processed the information at an advanced pace.

One tiny portion of his processor noticed the scarred human racing down the road, again outlined by his CPU as Sunstreaker; which was impossible. She was moving quite quickly for one who couldn't see. He stashed the information, and then discarded it. Right now, that wasn't important, although it was curious as to _how _she ended up _here_, in the middle of a fight, of all places. And why she was showing up as Sunstreaker.

Sideswipe whipped his blades around again, slicing through a grey vehicle's engine, flames searing his armour as he whipped through the wreckage, wreathed in the explosion. His optics gleamed in the bright explosion.

The melee warrior had hacked into the human's communications and used it to figure out where the pesky humans were coming from. A quick assessment done on the off-lined warrior in the middle of battle made Sideswipe aware of the problem. Sunny was critically low on energy.

He whipped his blades through the air, and jumped after another helicopter that had gotten too close, guns blazing. 'Jet Judo' was the wrong term for this sort of altercation – he hung on to the bottom of the helicopter with his left, subspacing his left blade, and took a quick look around as he sliced his blade into the underbelly of the helicopter, rending it from nose to tail with a flick of his wrist joint. Gas and fluids dripped over his shoulders and helm. Pale blue optics focused on the landscape, highlighting which vehicles were S7's, and targeting them for destruction.

As the helicopter swirled downwards, he felt small metal pellets hitting him at a high velocity. They stung, but did not puncture the armour. He felt a few of the periphery energon lines, barely hidden in the joints, give way, leaking a thin stream of energon that dripped to the ground.

Something hard and heavy hit him in the back, knocking him from the doomed helicopter that was trailing smoke and going down. He subspaced his right blade as he fell, not wanting to stab himself or the ground as he landed.

He landed heavily, jarring something in his ankle struts. The silver 'bot felt something in his back smoking heavily, causing him to shut down the neural relays from that area. A green truck was racing at him, loaded in the back with a primitive missile launcher. Sideswipe dodged the missile easily, not wanting to become more damaged.

Something seemed off about this whole thing, but he wasn't sure what, and he didn't have time to analyse.

* * *

**S7 Squad One**

"Veer left! NoBEL-one is out of commission for a while – NoBEC-one fast incoming. Watch out – it's fast!"

"I can take him!" Another green truck exploded in a pillar of flame, pieces of plastic melting and causing a foul smell. Small shrapnel bits of metal exploded outwards.

The leader, in Squad One narrowed her eyes at the fire. They were getting ripped apart. But that was the plan – after all, there were only three _real_ people out here. The rest were robotic-controlled machines and vehicles. Q wanted the aliens to think that they had the upper hand in weaponry – they'd be cocky and underestimate the firepower of S7 after this.

One of the tech guys had whipped up a robotics program integrated with a sound-byte system that spat out words that three squads had been saying about NoBEL-one and NoBEC-one, in all sorts of situations. Then the tech would integrate the movements while the other one would crack off appropriate sound-bytes. They didn't actually have to be there, and now there was nothing else they could do. Q had expressly said that they were to try to divert NoBEL-one north without causing harm to humans.

Squads Two and Three were only a few miles off, remotely controlling the helicopters and vehicles, waiting and listening to her in case she needed back-up. She was the only one actually on the scene.

Two and Three could control the vehicles with the freeze-spray – no need for the humans to get close when the silver one was so lethal.

Only it wasn't going as planned. Since NoBEC-one had shown up, they were on to Plan J, which basically stated that the mission was a failure, and to retreat.

She bared her teeth in frustration. Not even the girl had been retrieved. If everything had gone as planned, they'd have come back with two more specimens to study. But instead, NoBEC-one had faster engines than they had ever anticipated, fast enough to reach the base in unprecedented speeds without the use of a plane.

She glared at the screen again, swerving around the gleaming blades the silver alien was wielding.

Q had hand-picked every person on the field today – so for the mission to be a failure of this magnitude…

He'd only been in control for a little while, but in that time, every division had felt his wrath, and seen his brilliance in taking out the aliens. He'd single-handedly reformed the structure of S7 from the ground up, and come in with brilliant designs. He'd taken the confused, unsure, struggling former members of the disbanded Sector Seven, and reformed them into a new Sector Seven. A sort of vigilante group against the aliens that had invaded their home, their territory. They were government-funded, much like the clandestine operations that had occurred before the Defense Secretary was aware of them. She loved it.

There was no way that she could have returned to normal, civilian life, and she knew it. She'd tried for a few months, and then had decided that she couldn't do it.

They had taken away her pension without so much as a 'sorry, and thanks for your work for the country.' She'd considered joining the army, but it wasn't enough. Going from studying aliens and working with top-secret weapons to protect the country, to working as a waitress? No thank you.

Q had been a life-saver. She'd come home from a job interview for a secretary of a small firm, to find a letter sitting on her desk. It had been brief, and succinct, as well as in code. Signed only with the letter Q.

She'd had to decode it – curiosity was too engrained in her to not. As she deciphered it, it became apparent that someone was starting S7 up again. She'd been hooked instantly.

Once she met him at the debrief, which she had managed to make it to, she had known that he was worth following, despite his younger age. She had faith in him, enough to follow the man wherever he went, and whatever he wanted.

She'd had the clearance to know this much about him – he was an enigma, appearing like a ghost a year ago.

She was sure that he had a plan to destroy them. Another pillar of flame as the silver alien took out another vehicle, snapping her thoughts back to the mission.

Her eyes caught on the girl, running down the road. One of the contingency plans sprang to her mind, immediately solidifying. The mission wasn't a complete failure…

She barked out a command. "Missiles hurt it, use them to take out NoBEC-one – Squad Two, Three, do it. Squad One, to NoBEL-one. Let's wrap it up!" The only part of the words that had any meaning were the words, 'Let's wrap it up.' Code for: getting the girl, no help needed.

Q had told her to make sure she got the girl, if at all possible. Squad Two and Three were standing by in their own vehicles, ready to assist, but right now, she didn't think that it would be worth it to lose two agents. The human girl was blind, for heaven's sakes. One contemplated how she'd get the girl into her van with minimal fuss.

NoBEC-one was distracted by the other vehicles, and NoBEL-one was smoking heavily by the side of the road, so now was the best chance she'd get at nabbing the girl.

The freaked driver method, running from the giant robots? Nah – she wouldn't stop for a person, she'd get the hell out of there.

Police, there for assistance? She had the sirens…no, S7 had been experimenting on her only hours ago, she wasn't going to trust random strangers, regardless of who they said they were.

So, the old snatch and grab? Worked for her.

No…she had a better idea.

Q had told her that as long as the girl was alive, it was fine. Delicate handling didn't matter.

Q wasn't known for being a sympathetic guy.

Her grey van whirled towards the running girl with no shirt on, listening to the radio chatter that permeated the airways, and the alien was no doubt listening to, easily hearing all their moves. Well, the moves they wanted them to hear.

* * *

**Alex**

There was another loud crash from beside and behind me; a massive noise that had me cowering into the nearest available patch of dirt before racing along the highway. I was still much too close to the explosions for my comfort.

I threw myself forwards again, legs pumping ferociously.

An engine noise behind me – was it the kidnapper again? I contemplated running off the road, but knew that I couldn't possibly get far, and that it would be monumentally stupid to race off into the dirt and grass with no way of anyone finding me, or me finding my way back.

The engine noise grew louder and louder, until I felt like it was nearly on top of me, about to crush me.

Air wafted across my face, and my pants rubbed against my legs as I ran faster, hoping that I didn't slip and crack my head on the ground, hoping that some other car didn't get to close and turn me into a smear on the asphalt. Brakes squealed and something hit me from behind, making me fall forwards and hit my head hard against the pavement. My head swam for a minute.

I felt blood oozing down my forehead as I tried to lift my head up past the spinning feeling. Had someone just…hit me with their vehicle?

There was a bang of a door opening, from right behind me.

"Oh my g- Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't see you…"

Warm hands were on my shoulders, and I felt like screaming as their fingers brushed against the wound on my shoulder. Loud noises echoed from behind me, and I ducked instinctively. I could hear flames cracking somewhere.

"Honey, what happened to your shirt?"

I couldn't answer, still breathing in huge gulps from running so far. Or maybe it had only been two hundred yards, and I was really out of shape.

They were gone for a moment, feet crunching on the ground. I shivered, clicks and weird noises running through my mind. It felt like I could almost understand the noises, that there was more to them than I was currently comprehending.

Something covered me, and I tugged it to myself gratefully. A blanket, I surmised, wrapping it tightly about me.

Then they were tugging at my shoulder, urging me to get in, get in quickly, the robots were coming.

I was helped swiftly into the vehicle, and relaxed in the front seat, feeling much safer than before. I was going to be safe, helped by this nice person (even though they hit me with their vehicle).

The lady beside me chatter one about how sorry she was about hitting me, how she'd just been so freaked out about the robots fighting in the road, and how in the world did I end up out here, without a shirt, and covered in blood?

"It…it's a long story," I finally muttered, hoping I wasn't getting too much blood on her blanket.

She merely continued chattering about feeling bad and getting as far away as possible. She asked me where I was going, and I didn't answer.

As far away from the giant robots as possible was sort of a strange answer. Other than that, I didn't know.

My extended family lived far away, almost in Canada. Mom had moved down here with Dad years ago for his job, and we'd never moved back.

My family was still with Sector Seven, so I couldn't go back to the house – I didn't have keys. And it would probably be locked.

I had about a dollar left, if I was feeling my change right, and mentally deducting my purchases of water and chocolate. I didn't have enough for a hotel room.

The lady chattered on pleasantly, and eventually managed to talk me into accepting a meal and some first aid for my shoulder and back.

Suddenly, the vehicle rocked back and forth and I heard a large _pow_, and I threw out my hands to stabilize myself. "What was that?" I asked, voice slightly panicked.

She whispered something softly, her voice oddly tight, but I missed what it was. I heard a small crunch from her direction only a few seconds later.

* * *

**Sideswipe**

He slashed at a red truck, cutting it in-half horizontally, the engine exploding in a flare of bright yellow and red flame. The flare of battle filled his spark, creating a raucous chord of sheer thrill. Optics dimming automatically, he scanned the area again, finishing in a few astroseconds.

_No hostiles remaining._

The silver warrior shut down his battle-mode and reset his optics, scanning the area swiftly.

After only a few astroseconds passed, he raced to Sunstreaker, and smacked a hand down on the scorched paint, dinting the top of the Lamborghini's hood.

"_Primus, Sunny, flashy enough?"_ he joked.

A golden hand shot out and grabbed his neck, Sunstreaker transforming in a flash of glistening yellow paint, streaked with mud and ash. He was gripping the main energon line to Sideswipe's head. Pale icy blue optics flashed. The silver warrior stayed calm, even though inside he was exalting that he could _feel_ his twin again. His spark was thrumming in its casing, resonating more evenly even as he stood beside the (now dented) transformer.

"_Sunny, it's me – Sideswipe."_ He would have added something more joking, but Sunstreaker was a little prone to ripping and tearing in this state if he heard something he didn't like.

The golden 'bot's voice was slightly crackly and hoarse, yet it was cold.

"_Sideswipe?"_ he asked, not releasing his grip on the delicate energon lines. The voice was dangerous.

"_The one and only," _he joked, feeling more calm. The hand tightened.

"_And you felt it necessary to _dint_ my roof _why_?" _The golden 'bot snarled, gripping the lines tight enough so that Sideswipe's optics dimmed with not enough energon to run them in battle-mode.

He grinned at his twin. _"Hmm? Me?"_

After another snarl, the golden twin let go. _"You're giving me an extra wax for that, bolts-for-brains."_

"_Yeah, yeah, sure," _Sideswipe said. He sent a thrill of happiness through the bond, and felt the slight reciprocation from his emotionally stunted twin. Sunstreaker shifted backwards, and Sideswipe glanced at his twin fully. He whistled.

"_Frag me sideways and trade my processor for a bolt, what did you _do_ to get that much damage? Jump into a blender?"_

The golden yellow twin merely glared, then grunted out, _"Re-entry."_

Sideswipe travelled around the battered yellow mech, swirling on his wheels. Energon was streaked all down the yellow sides, turning them a strange greenish colour, and the armour was filled with tears and rips, some covered with thin patches of metal hand-welded on. The Hatchet was going to blow a gasket when he saw this.

Sideswipe grinned.

"_Seriously, bro, you must have been really moving to get that much damage."_

Sunstreaker didn't reply out loud, but Sideswipe felt his annoyance through the bond. Primus, but it was good to have Sunstreaker with him, back together again.

The silver twin swivelled on his wheels, subspacing his other blade and scanning the surrounding area for organic life-forms.

_No organic humanoid life-forms recorded within five hics._ Something about that seemed odd to him, but he didn't have time to figure it out – where was Alex?

He scanned the area again, searching by using the last available data he had on the human girl, using her specific biometrics.

_No organic humanoid life-forms with this data recorded within five hics._

He widened the range. _No organic humanoid life-forms with this data recorded within ten hics._

Sideswipe felt a frown crease his faceplates. Where was she? She couldn't have just disappeared – he'd seen her only a few breems ago, racing down the road as if Ravage was after her.

Sideswipe scanned the surrounding area, looking for the human's organic signal, but widening the search parameters to twenty hics and merely looking for life-forms.

He widened the scope of his scanners, and got a multitude of hits. He narrowed it down to the one closest to Alex – ninety-seven point two percent matching biometrics.

It was slow in coming, but Sideswipe blamed it on the return of normal processing speed – after all, he'd been operating at double-speed for a while, and anything less than that felt abnormally slow.

Transforming into his silver Corvette Stingray mode, he swerved around, and fixed the new scan in his processor.

"_You coming, Sunny?"_

He could feel the irritation in his other half, but it was dulling, not as sharp and acrid as normal.

"_Sunny! Where were you that you got so…cuddly and soft?"_ He joked, watching pale blue optics flash.

The silver car darted forwards, but wasn't quite quick enough to avoid the hand that smashed down on his trunk, leaving a massive indent.

He ignored it, hopping up and down on his tires, bouncing. Sunstreaker laboriously transformed, smoking and popping. Both dented vehicles started off down the road, the golden yellow one a hair behind the silver Corvette.

"_Where are we going?"_

"_I need to get something, and then we're going to the base."_

* * *

**S7 Squad One**

The nice thing about the roadblock behind them was that there was no traffic – she was free to go as fast as the specially modified van could. Unfortunately, that meant that the alien robot could go just as fast, once it had disposed of the controlled helicopters and vehicles. It would be a race, to see who could reach S7 first. She intended to win.

The girl was an idiot. She'd willingly come into the van, and had relaxed completely once the agent started blathering on about whatever she could think of – like her aunt had used to do.

She'd just managed to take the turnoff that would lead them to S7 headquarters when she looked again in the rear-view mirror, and seen a silver car following them, catching up fast. A smoking golden car was behind it. They'd met up. Damn it. She hadn't gone more than eight miles.

Mashing her foot into the accelerator again, she raced forwards and pulled a few small levers under the dash to release some surprises for the pursuer.

Slick oil dripped down on to the road as well as some small spikes designed to puncture tires – but nothing stopped the Corvette from hell. She swerved, trying to avoid the car but the gold one was on her other side, tight to the van's flank. She was pinned.

The silver one transformed, whipping out blades that sliced her tires like they were a sheet of paper.

The woman wrestled with the unruly steering wheel, fighting to keep control. She ignored the squeaks that the girl was giving off.

She activated a button under the seat, hidden for such purposes, and spoke to Q.

"They've met. They have the girl," she said and then let the button release again, automatically activating the explosives rigged in the back of the van, set to explode in twenty seconds. The rules were clear. If Q couldn't have the girl, neither could they. She wasn't that important. Merely an anomaly.

"Sorry, Q," she said aloud, softly – so soft that the girl would have no chance of hearing her. "I failed."

The protocols were quite clear in this area. With that, she slipped one of the drug capsules from the compartment under the seat in, and broke it with her teeth, swallowing swiftly.

* * *

**Alex**

The vehicle wavered back and forth, and I could hear a faint noise outside, like the humming of fast and powerful engines. As the other tires blew out, the vehicle immediately slowed, and continued to swerve from left to right.

The woman spoke, but I missed what she said. Something about meeting up.

My head was spinning, buzzing even. What in the blue hells was happening now? Was this whole surreal dream about to end? Was I going to make it out alive? Or would I wake up on the table, under the knife?

A shiver raced up my spine at the thought of it.

Anger, hot and heady, mixed with a chill sort of rage at the thought of all of my efforts to this point being for naught. When would the insanity _end_?

_Never,_ a small voice whispered. _Until you're cold and grey, melted down for scrap._

What?

The vehicle veered to the left, throwing me into the middle. My fingers landed on the driver's hand – jittering and shaking like she was having an epileptic fit.

Another jolt of the vehicle, and I lost my grip on her hand.

"Are you alright?" I managed, trying to stabilize myself by gripping the handle on the door.

She didn't answer, and I got a sinking feeling in my stomach a few moments later when I heard her rasp out a breath.

Something smashed into the front of the vehicle, throwing me forwards harshly, seatbelt strap cutting into my shoulder. Thankfully, the injured one was on the opposite side.

I felt something crusty on my cheeks when I bit my lip. Dried blood, probably.

An odd noise came from the vehicle's engine, and then the door I was hanging on to was ripped open – or off. I heard it hit the ground a few moments later, softly.

Instantly, my worst thoughts came back. The robots? Had they found me _again_? Damn it all, what the hell did they want me for?

A giant hand ripped me from the seat, and I squealed a little bit in fear. A wash of hot air raced over my face, and the sound of a close, loud explosion made me shriek. What was that?! Why oh why did they keep on hounding me? I hadn't _done _anything! Were they blowing things up now?

Unless they were here to kill me for telling those scientists. But then the other one would have… My head was spinning with all the confusing thoughts.

Could I really put this all down to a hallucination? It was too vivid, too real…

The hand tightened around me, and I choked slightly, feeling a rib threaten to give.

"Put her down, Sunny," a voice I _knew_ chirped out, slight aggravation in the tone. It wasn't _quite_ like I remembered – a little more metallic and strained – but that was Sides' voice alright.

My heart gave a great leap.

The metal hand around me tightened a little more.

"Sides?" I rasped out, forcing my voice past the tightness of the hand.

"In the flesh, Alex… Or, well… Not quite flesh exactly… Primus, another weird saying."

I was confused. It would probably be handy to be able to _see_ him, and actually know what he was talking about. But no.

Apparently, it was time to play hot potato with the human, as 'Sunny' (weird name for a robot…) dropped me. I shrieked as I fell, expecting to become a splat on the ground when another hard surface hit my flailing feet.

"Relax, I got you."

His calming words did nothing to ease my mind, even though I was delighted to hear his voice again, and to be with him.

I played his words back, trying to determine _why_ I felt like I was missing something.

"_Relax, I got you." _I'm sure my face paled. "You…you have a robot?" I whispered, hardly daring to breath in case this turned out to be a huge joke that the universe was determined to play on me.

He laughed. _Laughed_. Like my impending heart attack was something to laugh at.

"What? I'm a mech. Not a robot."

I swallowed, clutching the blanket to my sides as tightly as possible, hoping to hide away in it so they couldn't get me.

"Not a robot? Then…who controls the robot?"

"Are you glitched? No one controls me."

"So… You're the controller?" I managed, feeling like my stomach was about to come through my mouth.

"No, I told you. I'm a mech. Made of metal, and I have a processor. I'm not a robot."

It still made no sense – people would have run screaming if a giant robot had escorted me to and from classes. And driving…

I swallowed, feeling like the world as I knew it was shifting, twisting into a shape that I didn't recognize. "But…how did you come to my classes?"

"Holoform."

"And the car?" I managed, feeling my head spin crazily, those insane shivers and odd, almost-hearable chatters going through my body.

"The…oh, that's the best part! We can transform into whatever car we want! Cool, huh?"

My stomach was threatening to churn out the chocolate bar I'd managed to eat when I was with the crazy robot and car-dude. Who were one and the same.

I wasn't on drugs. They'd been following me, albeit much longer than I had anticipated. For over a year.

"Which country do you…are you allied with?" I managed, hoping that somehow this was all within my subconscious, and I wouldn't be able to come up with a reasonable answer. Because these extremely advanced robots were almost acting like they were alive.

Which was absolutely impossible, and no country would be _this_ far ahead in creating giant AIs. Not to mention that they wouldn't just let them escape, and run around the country-side.

My mind flashed back to the robots I had seen in the café that had initially blinded me. The causes of all my current problems.

I almost missed Sides' reply due to my hyperventilating. "Well, I'd have to ask Prime that one to be sure, but I think we just hang out wherever."

Okay, I was crazy, and this was the best my mind could come up with. Flashbacks to the insane, battling silver robots that I had seen a year ago. And somehow it had decided that the TA was a fabulous person to robot-ify. Yup. I was crazy, maybe even dead – unless I had dreamed the whole thing up. But I was past that – there was no way that I dreamed _this whole thing_ up.

I almost failed English, for heaven's sakes; I wasn't this creative.

"So, how've you been for the past year?" Sides asked in a nonchalant tone.

"I'm pretty sure I'm crazy," I told him truthfully. "There's no way that this can all be happening."

Step one was admitting it, right? Or was that for things like addiction? Could it work on insanity?

"Why?" He sounded curious.

"Giant, AI robots? I'm not clever enough to come up with something like that. I must have simply projected what happened to me a year ago and extrapolated."

After a few moments of silence, Sides spoke, apparently answering my previous question.

"Alex, you wound me! My intelligence is all natural!" I heard the other one snort softly, before Sides' voice continued, along with a bang and my surface tilted a little. "We are…Frag, how does Optimus put it? 'Autonomous robotic organisms?' Yeah. Sounds right. Autobots. From Cybertron."

"Aliens?" I squeaked out.

"Uh…Yeah, I guess you could put it that way. But really, that's pretty rude. Autobots is much better."

"So, you're actually an _alien?_" I managed, about to keel over. How much more could a girl take? That's it; I was so completely dead or insane. My poor parents. Poor Jace.

Another voice spoke, cold and quiet. I shivered at that voice; it promised pain and violence and darkness. "Sideswipe, the organic isn't worth our time. I need a new paintjob something fierce, let's go."

"But Sunny! Wait, how do you know her?" Then, the hand holding me shifted a little. "Did you meet Sunny?"

"Don't call me that, fragger!" The cold voice snapped, sounding angry.

I was silent, whimpering in the palm of some giant robot's hand.

"Sunny, how'd you meet Alex?"

The massive, scary one was silent. I felt like my heart would explode in fear. There was the sound of air blowing out, and then more of the strange feelings in me. Amusement – I was in no way amused. Excitement. Jealously. Rage. I was so confused – and that one was all me. Hell, I was terrified! Maybe that was the insanity cuing in?

Suddenly, it all came to me like the grotesque pictures of a puzzle, one that I had been too naïve to put together for the last year. The language. The oddly expensive car. The weird replies to some of my questions.

"Oh…oh…oh my- You… You're real! Like, actually, honest to- Oh my- I'm going to be sick," I moaned, throwing a hand over my mouth. Sounds from the last year swept through my head.

The guy that kidnapped me from the terrorists – how his voice had come through the radio. The empty seat when I leaned over.

_"What? Frag that – I mean…um…I like teaching…"_

_"You've got no idea, human."_

_"My car is my life – I'd die without it."_

No wonder he was so alright with me driving his car…him? Geez, that sounded so…dirty…

Well, they certainly weren't out to kill me – they could have done that ages and ages ago.

My thoughts rattled around in my head like ping pong balls. The most predominant being, 'why?'

I was shivering uncontrollably now, more thoughts and images rushing through my mind than ever before.

"What do you want from me?" I managed, still clenching the blanket tight.

Sides sounded confused. "Want? Well… Hatchet wants you to stay safe, and wants me to scan you… Prime just wants you to stay safe… " He rambled off into muttering.

Holy hell, how many of them were there? There were two here, and then… "Four?"

"Huh? Oh, no – around a dozen, I think. Haven't counted recently."

There was another frantic buzz of noise around my head, and I shivered again. The events of the day were catching up to me. Alien robots that could talk. I wasn't crazy. Or maybe I was, and was too crazy to know it – soon I'd think everyone else to be crazy. No, I wasn't crazy. This was real.

It felt like the world had tilted on its axis, had stretched too far and snapped, resulting in these odd creatures who were saying they were robots. Who could transform into vehicles. Who were from Cybertron.

The universe's version of word vomit.

"Did you kill her?" I choked out. "The woman who saved me?"

A small pause, in which my head burned from the amount of ambient noise and then Sides spoke in a deceptively cheerful voice. "She was taking you back to the place that Sunny rescued you from."

My heart felt like a small, fluttering bird, about to launch from the nest and splat on the ground. The stress from the last day, all these excess emotions, plus not eating and drinking was just too much.

I passed out.

* * *

**Sunstreaker**

Right when the fleshy passed out, his bond to Sideswipe dimmed. The golden yellow warrior's optics narrowed. What in the Pit was going on here?

The desire to just off-line the thing with a blade to the chassis was strong, warring with his desire to chuck it out a window doing three hundred miles an hour. Or he could have just left it in the exploding vehicle, and been done with it. But Sideswipe had been insistent, stating that he _needed_ to get her out, right now.

Sunstreaker didn't like it. Sideswipe was acting weird around the little scrap of human flesh.

The golden yellow 'bot ran an internal scan as they moved down the highway, in the direction of the base, checking for more ripped lines and damage sustained. His alt-mode was smoking, and leaving blue smears on the road. The golden-yellow paint was chipped and scratched, and coated in a slick covering of energon. His paint was hideous – it was annoying him.

Text ran across his HUD as his processor completed the scan.

_Scanning…_

_Numerous lines in peripheral energon lines compromised. Flow to peripheral lines disabled. Main energon line in right arm and left arm compromised. Reduced energon flow to arms. Energon levels critically low. More energon required._

_Coolant lines in arms and legs compromised. More coolant required. _

_Frame damaged. Require repairs._

_Functioning at 14.29% power. Stasis lock will be initiated in 1.63 joors._

Sunstreaker had managed to siphon off enough energy from the surrounding vehicles to have a little bit of charge – enough to possibly get back to the Autobots. He'd have to immediately go to the Hatchet, and let him have his way with the yellow mech to fix all the dents and rips in his lines, but he'd make it.

"_Sideswipe, ditch the organic."_ Sunstreaker sounded annoyed, and slightly frustrated. For some reason, the bond-talk wasn't working, so they had to make do with private comm. linking. He'd been arguing with Sideswipe for over a groon, telling him to get rid of the needy organic in Sides' passenger seat. The silver twin seemed oddly attached to it, and had made a point of snatching the thing up once it had passed out in his servos.

Sideswipe was defensive. _"I like her, she's…oddly endearing, like a pet of some sort."_

"_Pets die."_ Sunstreaker was annoyed, and made no secret of it.

"_But she's still got easily a half-vorn left in her."_

"_And you think it wants to spend it with you?" _His comment to the silver twin was filled with derision.

"_Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"_ Sideswipe protested.

Sunstreaker felt like smashing a fist into his idiot twin's faceplates. He would have, except that another transformation could be lethal – the patches could tear even more, and he'd leak out. _"What it means, idiot, is that a biological creature doesn't want to spend the last few astroseconds with a creature that isn't even its own species."_

"_Alex is a friend, Sunny – she's funny."_

"_So are Wheeljack's experiments, but I don't keep them in my interior."_

"_She isn't going to explode, you half-bit." _ The golden twin swerved into the silver twin, probably for the half-bit comment. The contact left a smear of energon on Sideswipe's flank.

Sideswipe shoved back, and if he had been transformed, he'd have been fighting a grin off his faceplates.

"_Anyways, I'll just keep her until she wakes up again – I can't just leave her on the side of the road."_

Sunstreaker's anger was nearly palpable. He didn't verbalize his anger, knowing that it was irrational to be jealous of a squishy, disgusting biological creature his brother was infatuated with. He couldn't help it though – Sideswipe was just so _concerned _about it. It made him want to squish the little thing under one of his pedes, watch it scream and flail until its fluids gushed out and it was still.

It had made a mess of his interior.

He glared at the little thing in Sideswipe's passenger seat again. He'd felt it while it was awake, polluting the bond with Sideswipe. How it had access to their bond was a mystery he didn't care to figure out – he just wanted it _gone._

And now that it was off-line, he could barely feel Sides through the bond. What the frag had his idiot twin done? How much of this was Shockwave's doing? After all, the creepy fragging scientist had told him that he'd never be able to feel the bond with Sides ever again – and he was able to.

What had this little organic done?

Hatred swelled in him for the biological creature.

Sideswipe hadn't come after him when he was stranded on this planet, and he came after this little flesh-bag? Hatred filled the yellow Lamborghini, smoke rising from his hood as he moved down the highway. His engine sputtered momentarily as the dregs of gasoline ran through it.

If Sideswipe brought that thing to the base, he'd make sure it was in a regrettable 'accident.' After all, the fragging thing was defective – its optics didn't work. And it was weaseling into the bond between him and Sideswipe.

No.

That was unforgiveable. Even for something that didn't even come up to his knee joints.

If he could convince Sideswipe to get rid of it, however, then he wouldn't have to try and off-line it – the world was a hazardous place for defective flesh-creatures.

This was its last chance to survive. If Sideswipe gave it up, he'd leave it alone and hope that it died due to other flesh-bag interventions. If it didn't and Sideswipe wouldn't leave it alone, he'd make sure it didn't last much longer.

No one was allowed to be that close to his brother. No one other than him.

"_You think Prime is going to let you _keep_ an organic? A biological, sentient being?"_ Sunstreaker snorted. _"Think again, idiot."_

"_But she'd want to see the base, and the Hatchet would probably want to scan her…"_

Sunstreaker would have rolled his optics if he weren't in his vehicle mode. _"It can't see."_

Sideswipe started pouting. _"But, Sunny-,"_

"_But nothing, you glitch. Leave it out of this. It didn't look like it considered you a friend, shaking in your servos. And don't call me that!"_

He'd get rid of it; one way, or the other.

The Lamborghini's headlights flashed more brightly, and his engine revved.

* * *

**Sideswipe**

Sideswipe scanned the human as she lay sprawled out in his interior, scanning only superficially before being overwhelmed with the urge to stop, to chuck her out on to the side of the road. The silver car became increasing unsettled the longer he tried to scan her, and the more thoroughly he tried to scan her.

It was a strange, tingly feeling that made him feel like crawling out of his protoform.

He remembered her fear, her shaking, muttering out, "Did you kill her?" The girl's optics were such a different colour – he remembered them being more reddish-brown, not quite as red. She'd been shaking in his grip, almost to the point of falling to pieces.

His headlights winked as he increased his speed. She didn't trust him anymore. It was surprising how much that lack of trust actually _hurt_, considering she was just a tiny little life-form he could squish with one digit. Abruptly, the silver warrior revved his engine, making up his mind.

Sunny was right – he should let her go back to the humans. She didn't trust him anymore. And she was an innocent; he had no right to involve her in all the Autobot craziness.

He'd drop her off with the police – they could help her out, right? He didn't know of any other family she had, and police were supposed to be trustworthy members of human society, right?

Yeah. And then he'd make sure Sunny got to the Hatchet, and then he'd check on her, make sure she was doing alright. He would just make sure that she didn't know he was helping her.

Sunstreaker followed behind him, car mode smoking as the Lamborghini limped down the highway, barely doing twice the speed limit.

* * *

**AN:** Oh man…Sunstreaker could be more of a problem than I thought… I hadn't anticipated such homicidal jealousy… Although, now that I think about it, it completely makes sense that he'd think that way. Thoughts from the peanut gallery?

**NOTE:** I do not have the next chapter written, as school/life/insert-life's-weapon-of-choice-here has been terrible, and I don't think I'll be updating again for about three weeks. Bear with me – I'll do my best, but no promises guys. I will definitely update as quick as I can though.


	11. Principium

**Chapter 11: Principium**

(Latin: _beginning_)

* * *

AN: So… this one was like pulling teeth. Yeah. But I like how it turned out, despite the pain of re-writing bits and pieces and portions and whole sections. Ke-bleh…

So, Happy Holidays, everybody! Hope ya'll have a wonderful week!

**Terms**: NBE-2 - Barricade

**Warnings**: Alex has another session of potty-mouth. You've been warned.

* * *

**New York City, New York**

Squad Three Leader moved his hand up, gesturing forwards with two fingers. Twenty meters forwards. Matte black armor gleamed in the pale light as twelve wraith-like shapes drifted forwards, silent, and disappeared into their hiding places, set to resemble the sleeping quarters of homeless individuals. All of them were trying their best to relax, on the chance that his scanners were still working, and he was able to sense that they were awake from the rapid race of their heartbeats. Their guns were the new issue ones from Q, and the dumpsters that the men were located in should help with hiding the possible difference in scanning. Homeless men did not usually possess top-of-the-line, brand new weaponry, after all.

Squad Four was posted as the snipers on the roofs with freezing guns, Squad Five was tracking NBE-2 and another Squad was standing by with a large, specially modified semi to load up the vehicle once it was incapacitated. And then take it apart before it was able to move.

The attack would commence, right as the modified Mustang drove by – most likely around 0400. Right now, they were still tracking NBE-2 through satellite and getting into a close position. Snipers were stationed on the roofs with the new weapon Q had designed – this was to be its test run. There was the chance that some civilians would be injured, but some story could always be concocted.

NBE-2 had proven a pattern over the last month that they'd been tracing him. There was a huge chance that he'd drive by in just over two hours to go cruise down the street. For a giant transforming alien, he wasn't too smart with patterns. Eh. NBE-2's (severe) loss would be their gain.

He wanted his squad ready. NBE-2 had been around for the longest amount of time after NBE-1, but not more than a few years.

Q had detailed to the others that it was likely that NBE-2 was a scout or spy, and would thus be equipped with advanced scanners and detectors.

This meant that they needed to use a few extra precautions in capturing, or even killing the creature.

But they could do it – Q was counting on them to get it done, and have it done right. He needed either a piece or the whole thing, but preferably the whole.

He trusted his men to all be in position and trusted the other Squad leaders to have their men ready too. He was crouched in a dumpster, ignoring the smell as best as he could.

The man breathed slowly, feeling his heart slow down. He ran through the plan again.

It was going to go right.

He ran a hand along the cool metal, checking each piece of metal in the dark, trusting his hands to know each dip and curve of the gun.

Then he waited in silence, allowing the night sounds of the city to fill his ears.

After nearly two hours on the mark, he heard a click in his earpiece. One click – the enemy was coming, ETA three minutes. He kept his breathing calm and level in case NBE-2 had sensors that would reach this far. He didn't want it to be more wary than normal with elevated thermal scans.

The man breathed in slowly, counting down the seconds in his head. His heart accelerated a little bit, but that was inevitable.

The sound of a smash made him clench his gun a little tighter, maintaining radio silence. That hadn't been the signal, and an attack on NBE-2 would have been much louder – must have just been one of the noises of this eternally busy and lit city.

One more click on the headset would indicate the attack, and his team would rush from the dumpsters, new guns blazing. The teams were equipped with their freeze guns, or (as the tech guys had oh-so-cutely named them) Resonating Cold-Thermometer Inducing Charge, or RCTICs. The guys were calling the freeze guns 'tics for short.

The freeze guns shot a pellet of metal that upon contact with a surface, the shell exploded in cold and sucked the heat from something, making it icy cold in nanoseconds. With the robots, their joints were particularly vulnerable to this sort of weapon, but a mass attack of cold-shells on one car would freeze it in its tracks, sometimes causing metal to explode from the sudden change in temperature – it was that extreme a change.

Then he and his guys would use their 'tics, and make sure the car was out and down. The last squad would cut the car into tiny pieces to make sure it didn't escape and cause havoc. The inside of the well-lit semi trailer was a horror show of blades, torches, chains and vice grips – a machine's worst nightmare.

All of brooding he was doing was instantly washed away when another click sounded in his ear, and the sound of something on the road caught his ear. He boiled out of the dumpster, seeing the rest of his squad emerge from their hiding places, 'tics raised and ready.

Still they were silent, like ghosts. It made no sense (right now) to scream like banshees – they were in New York City, after all. Who was going to care? Other than to scare off their prey, it would serve no purpose.

The elite warriors streaked into the road, immediately spotting their quarry at the side of the road, smoke pouring from a well-placed ice-shot right between the hood and the front windshield. Immediately at the signal of the squad leader, the soldiers poured shells into the wounded Saleen, only halting when the car stopped entirely, and the front headlights went out. They approached slowly, then a few of the men pried open the hood and fired a slew of freeze shells into the interior, watching as steam and hissing erupted.

They continued pouring freeze shells into the car, surrounding it with the twelve members of the squad until the squad with the semi trailer pulled up.

Using chains, they hauled the (hopefully) deactivated or terminated alien up the ramp and into the trailer, and the other members of Squad Three melted into the still-dark night, three members staying on the trailer to make sure the alien stayed down.

Even if some industrious members of society had witnessed that, and taken photos or video, it didn't matter much. Worst case scenario, the police would be on the lookout for an organized group of car nappers.

Squad Five was on tech, and they were scanning for video footage of the theft. NBE-2 hadn't had time to transform; the attack had been so unexpected.

Perfect.

The squad leader was in the trailer, watching the car constantly. The team in the trailer burst into movement, each completed white-suited member hauling out a deadly looking blade that glowed red.

* * *

**Squad Fifteen Member, Semi Trailer**

She flicked her plasma cutter on, and moved in to the deactivated alien, hoisted into the air to make it easier to reach the underside. Other members were standing by in their own fire-proof suits, ready to extinguish any fires with their red cylinders.

This was absolutely fascinating – the strength of the metal alloy was unlike anything she'd ever seen. It was a good thing that the R&D Division had created these upgraded plasma cutters specifically for the purpose of cutting into alien exoskeletons. Otherwise, there was no way they'd be able to crack it open.

She watched as smoke rose from the spot, cutting it with difficulty, but it wasn't impossible.

They sliced open the side of the car, removing some of the siding. The piece with _"to punish and enslave" _was ripped off and placed into a box.

The hood was pried off, and she had just managed to cut out her own piece of the incredibly hard metal when the car shifted. Instantly, the attractive man from Squad Three was firing his gun at the alien, shooting pellets that caused a blossom of white ice to form. He was aiming mainly inside the engine, trying to deactivate the car again so they could take it apart.

The car subsided again, and the members of Squad Fifteen dove in again with a renewed sense of urgency.

This needed to get done, now. Before the creature woke up from the cold, and slaughtered them all.

Three of her teammates were underneath the car, using their cutters to rip out sections of the undercarriage. Sparks were flying. Their suits were suddenly drenched in blue-green liquid, but they continued their job, merely being careful. A few fires spontaneously started, but the other three put them out with efficient blasts, and the others merely continued cutting. She carted a clamp to one of them, and watched them use the various tools to pry apart the underbelly of the creature.

They pulled out the largest piece yet – a massive clawed hand, it appeared to be.

Amazing – the size to size ratio appeared to be completely different. How did they fold from a relatively modest sized car to a massive, hulking alien? Where did all the extra pieces go?

An idea sparked in her head. Was it some sort of space-conversion?

Out of the corner of her eye, she froze as she saw the wheel turn lazily, when no one had touched it. The idea was instantly gone as she watched the wheel turn, watched the red light glow from the underbelly.

Immediately, the Squad Three man was firing again, as were his other two members.

The freezing pellets did nothing, and the wheel turned again, lazily, before the car seemed to explode in size, transformed into a beast with red eyes, portions streaked in blue fluids. It was missing an arm, and patches seemed to be less armoured than others.

She squeaked accidentally, and the beast seemed to regard them all for a few moments, crouched over tight in the suddenly-tiny trailer. Those moments in which she could hear her heart pounding out the fastest rhythm ever, and all noise was gone in her ears seemed the longest of her life. The last of her life.

At least no one would miss her, all taken out in Mission City.

It was furious – red eyes glinting and flaring. A gun transformed where its one remaining arm was, and she goggled. That definitely hinted to the space conversion theory.

She swallowed, and gripped her plasma cutter with a little more strength, galvanized by her resolution. She was not going to go down without a fight.

Out of the corner of her eye, she witnessed one of her teammates' nerve break and he bolted. Where, she had no idea. They were trapped with the giant.

NBE-2 skewered him with one finger, and flicked him into Squad Three's Leader. Both hit the wall with a sick crunch and left an indent in the metal, blood streaked down the wall.

Silently, she darted forwards and jabbed at an elbow with her plasma cutter. It wasn't really designed to be used like a sword, so it didn't work all that well. Sparks flew, but she was shielded.

The elbow twitched, like she would at an insect, and the other hand smashed into her side.

Her head hit the door, and she was nearly unconscious for the rest of the fight, watching as the men were decimated, the other female members broken and battered.

Once they were all crushed, pieces shattered and blood liberally streaking the floor, it ripped a hole in the trailer, and jumped out, transforming into the police car that was ravaged with holes and roared away.

Her head was facing the hand they had cut off, and the rest of the arm they had managed to somehow get, before choking and trying to move. It definitely felt like more than a few bones were broken – she could see her left leg from here, and the ankle was nearly touching her thigh. Knee was definitely busted.

Her head throbbed and she couldn't move. A cough yielded red spattered on the front of her suit.

Not good.

* * *

**Alex**

I was leaning against a wall, clutching the blanket to my shoulders, and listening to the weird sounds in my head. They'd been going on for ages and ages now, but they finally seemed to be dimming a little bit – for a while it had been so loud, I had felt like screaming.

I felt like what they were saying was _just_ past my comprehension.

It was like I could almost understand what was being said, or I would be able to if they'd slow down even a little bit – like English on speed.

My head was buzzing, filled with chatter of an alien nature. I could hear the two voices, chattering away in the "gaming" talk that Sides had lied to me about. I didn't know what they were saying.

Was it weird that I could hear them?

Blearily, I blinked, and it was like I passed out for a while or something.

The voices were gone, leaving me with the blessed darkness of my own mind, instead of being filled with the alien's chatter.

Geh. I had never thought I'd be able to say that, but it was true. Perhaps they had put me down? I couldn't hear anything, apart from my thumping heart, sounding abnormally loud.

"Hey, are you alright?" I heard, and a hand landed on my blanket-covered shoulder. The person had an accent, only slightly different than mine.

I flinched away, and the voice spoke again.

"You're leaning against the police station in Mexico. Do you need help?"

"Mexico?" I squeaked.

"Yeah, Mexico. Mexico's Police Department."

The aliens had dropped me off in _Mexico_? What the hell? Why had Sides done that?

Sure, I didn't trust him (and wanted to never hear him again) but that didn't mean he had to drop me off in freaking Mexico!

"Fantastic," I muttered, rubbing my burning eyes with my right hand, left clutching the blanket closed.

I only had a little over a dollar left, I couldn't see, and I didn't have any of my identification. And Sides had dumped me off in Mexico?!

"What part of Mexico am I in?" I managed, trying to think through my options. As far as I could see, those options were very, very, _very_ limited.

I could try to hitchhike, and possibly go farther south, or get kidnapped again, or die. I could try to call my parents (who were likely still with the crazed terrorist group), or call some relatives in Canada.

I didn't have my cellphone, and I didn't know their number off by heart.

Damn.

"How far away is the border?"

"More than a few hours from here."

Geez. I wanted to kill Sides.

Other than the oddly homicidal part of me, the rest of me was quite happy to have been left here by the two – I didn't want anything more to do with the massive alien robots who transformed into cars.

My thoughts spiralled down another path. They…transformed into cars… How would people know they were there? They wouldn't.

What if they were here for some other purpose?

Sure, in all the badly written sci-fi garbage that Jace was so into, the world was the target and aliens were undercover all the time. But usually not freaking vehicles!

I buried my face into my arms that were resting on my knees. "We are so doomed," I muttered into the blackness.

Which reminded me. Was it Sides that blinded me? With that acid stuff? Or was it one of the (gulp) other dozen aliens on the planet? Why had those two been fighting?

I shook the thoughts from my head when the man spoke again.

"So, missy, what brings you to Mexico?" He sounded sort of hesitant, but at the moment I was too drained to care.

I snorted and huffed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I muttered quietly. He'd never have heard me. My face was buried in the blanket covering my top.

Oh. Maybe they had a shirt in the police station.

I spoke up a little louder.

"Can…do you have any water?" I asked hesitantly, lifting my head from the blanket and looking in the direction of the man's voice.

He still sounded a little hesitant. But I wanted to go inside.

I stood up, wrapping the blanket around myself more firmly. "You wouldn't happen to have an extra shirt?" I tried, leaning back against the wall.

"What happened to you?" he said.

My mind whirred. They'd never believe me if I said I was abducted by aliens.

"I…I can't remember." I shivered, wrapping the blanket around myself more firmly.

A hand landed on my shoulder (covered by the blanket) and I jumped at the feeling. Immediately, it disappeared.

"Come with me," he said, and the hand landed on my shoulder again.

I nodded and took a step forwards, swallowing against my dry throat. I'd lost my other two water bottles when Sides had dropped me off. In freaking Mexico.

I was going to kill him. Slowly and painfully.

* * *

**Sunstreaker**

The smoking Lamborghini hit his brakes, more smoke rising from his tires.

_::Sidewipe?:: _He tried speaking through the bond. But he couldn't feel the silver Corvette at all.

"_Sideswipe, what the frag is going on?" _He had a sinking feeling in his spark. If that slagging human was still tied to their bond…

Oh frag no.

Sideswipe seemed to be thinking along the same wavelength. _"Sunny… what the slag?"_

He moved a little forwards and back, the equivalent to a shrug. Green-tinted paint glinted in the sun as the Lamborghini's engine roared. A warning flashed on the screen.

_8.29 percent power. Stasis-lock initiated in 0.68 joors. _He cancelled it.

Sideswipe slid to a stop beside him, slightly scratched paint glistening silver. _"Why can't I feel you anymore?"_

The golden Lamborghini's engine sputtered a little bit. He felt like absolute slag. All he wanted was a flat berth, and some new paint.

They were going to have to get the organic back, he just _knew_ it. Fragging squishy, flesh creature.

What had happened?

"_The human…" _he snarled over the comm. link, irrationally angry at the joy in Sides' reply.

"_So, Alex is tied to us somehow?"_

"_Yes,"_ he growled, rage grinding his engine.

Sides was chipper, spinning in a tight circle to return to the station they left her at.

"_Well? We need to get her back then!"_

Sunstreaker blew air through his vents, again entertaining thoughts of throwing the organic through a grinder, or out a window at high speeds.

He moved backwards, until Sides' reassuring (but fragging annoying for the rest of the time) presence was back in his head.

There was no way he was letting his twin go that easily – he'd spent four vorns looking for him. Admittedly, that wasn't that much time, but he was fragging tired of _not_ feeling his twin, of the pain in his spark. So if this little organic thing was helping with the bond, he'd put up with it polluting the bond.

Primus, even now, he could _feel _it, resentful and annoyed at the very edge of his mind.

Until Ratchet was able to extricate it from the bond.

Then he'd take great pleasure in offlining the creature who _dared_ to touch him. Who dared to even touch _his_ idiot. And Sides didn't mind. He was going to slaughter the creature, and then his idiot.

They shared a look and a nod through the bond, however reluctant Sunstreaker was. It was time to get the squishy back.

* * *

**Alex**

I sighed, feeling much better. After about three cups of water and four doughnuts I felt slightly human again. The one lady had even gone out and bought me a bra and shirt – thank goodness!

Although once I got a shower or bath and some sleep, I'd feel even better.

"I live in Nevada…I don't know how I got here though," I lied, again. "I can't remember."

As if they'd believe me if I said I was kidnapped by giant alien robots after being tortured by humans. Right.

The woman who was questioning me seemed very sympathetic; must be something to do with my blindness, scars and confusion.

She'd been asking me for a while about what happened, but I was sticking with my story. Someone had hit me in the head, and when I woke up, I was here.

"Um…to clarify…which part of Mexico am I in?" I asked, cradling another cup of cold water between my hands.

"The police station, close to the highway."

"No, no, I got that. What city? What part of Mexico?" She seemed startled, although I was only basing that on her silence.

"Mexico, Missouri."

"Missouri?" I asked,

"We're still in the United States," the lady (I was pretty sure that her name was something simple…like Ann or Kate or something like that, but I couldn't remember).

I sat up straighter.

"Still in the US?" I said, making sure that I wasn't going (even more) crazy, and she had _actually_ said that I was still in the United States.

"Yes, Mexico, Missouri."

I was in Missouri? Well…that wasn't that bad. Really, compared to where I thought I was – Mexico! – almost _anywhere_ was better. Okay – Canada wasn't better. But Missouri was much, much closer… My thoughts trailed off. Closer to what? My family? Trapped with psycho terrorists. My dog? Same place as my family (I hoped).

What was at home for me? Nothing. And even if I got there, did I have a key?

I patted my pocket, ignoring the woman for a moment.

Nope. Of course not – that'd be too easy. Fantastic.

My head was filled with buzzing and jittering, and for some unidentifiable reason, I was suddenly shaking, twitching and near-hyperventilation. It faded, and then I was elated. I felt like jumping off the walls, and doing handstands, singing silly songs at the top of my voice.

I wasn't entirely sure why, which just added more emotion to the mix.

Jeez, eventually I'd just crash in a little pile on the floor and weep all my muddled emotions back out, until I was a sane human again.

I snorted. Sane? I highly doubted it.

Why had I not appreciated my dull, mundane life when I had it? Why had I complained and whined like I had? What if I never saw my parents and Jace and Macy ever again?

Thoughts whirled through my head, until I choked and finally winced at a pain in my head.

I tugged my feet on to the chair and wrapped my arms around them. It was a lot easier than it had been before I was blinded – I must have lost some weight over the stress.

My mind wandered. If I was a stronger person, would I swear revenge on the robots, and try to avenge my eyes and family?

No, that was just childish. But maybe I was just trying to justify my utter lack of ability to actually _do_ something against the robots.

I furrowed my eyebrows at a sudden sharp pain in my head, centered behind my temples. My hands came up to cradle my face. My eyes squinted shut, and it was like all the air in my lungs had disappeared.

I could hear them. Sides. The other one – Sunny, my brain supplied helpfully. The aliens. In my head?

Odd clatters and gibbering in my head – it sounded like Sides, excited and happy.

I was thrilled! I could feel again – we weren't separated! Anger also simmered in me. How dare others try to mess with the bond!

"-u alright?"

"Hm? Oh, um, yeah, I'm fine!" I managed, fists clenching into little balls. What the hell was going on?

How were they in my head? They hadn't been in it before, right? That had just been me spacing out because I was too hungry or tired, right?

The feeling of them was getting stronger. Intensity and a plot whirred within me. If I… wait, no. I didn't want to go.

Another second, and the feeling became even stronger.

What was happening? Was I going crazy? Was I developing multiple personalities that just happened to be giant aliens? No.

I wasn't crazy – this was happening.

There was a bang from outside, and excitement swelled in me, as well as resentment. I jumped when a loud noise came from the front door, and someone shouted. I curled my arms around my waist, and took a deep breath. Somehow, I knew it was the robot aliens, here again for who knows what reason. An even louder noise and a wash of heat as the front door blasted open, slamming against the wall with a loud noise. I jumped, sloshing water over my hand.

Something grabbed my arm, which caused me to drop the glass. It shattered with a crash. Something was hauling me out the back door swiftly, causing a wash of noises that made no sense. I shrieked in shock, and a hand covered my mouth, cutting the sound off.

The air outside was hot, and his hand on my arm was even warmer. I felt like I was in shock, unable to respond and fight back like I wanted to. I was in a daze.

I felt a leather seat as I was shoved backwards. The door shut fast, trapping me into the car – no, Sides.

"Let me out!' I hollered, finally managing to snap myself out of it as the car's engine roared and we squealed out of the lot.

"Why!" I shrieked, beating my fists against anything I could reach, ripping my fingernails into shreds trying to damage the leather seats. At this point, I didn't even care.

I had had enough of giant, life-ruining aliens.

"Damn you!" I cried out, feeling the skin of my fingers catch on something sharp and rip. They felt sticky and warm – bleeding.

The engine roared as the car raced forwards. "Calm down, Alex – don't hurt yourself."

That patronizing, cocky, kidnapping ass. I was going to find a way to bazooka the alien to death. Could the giant aliens be killed?

I was sure there was a way.

"Calm down? Are you fucking kidding me? Of course you aren't – you're a giant, crazy-ass, kidnapping alien. Why would you lie to me? Oh, no reason. Just might as well haul a blind girl around as a fucking experiment in humanity, she won't see any mistakes you make."

"Alex…we-"

"Save it, asshole."

I was mad, and stewed for more than a few miles, hearing that odd noise again. I was extremely thankful that I had managed to drink and eat something in the police station, which was (thankfully) _not_ in Mexico as in the place, but Mexico, Missouri. Which was in the United States.

My fingers were throbbing. It grew louder and louder, like someone was shouting in the car. They were so noisy – I could barely think!

"What is that noise!?" I shouted, throwing my hands to my ears. It didn't help – the buzzing, clicking noise only got louder and louder. I felt like I was going insane, about to explode into a million billion pieces.

I finally managed to put the noise out of my head, and ignore it. It was nearly impossible, because it was so loud, but I managed. I could hear it in the background still, like a squeaky record.

The car engine faltered then roared even louder.

I concentrated on the silence, stewing in my thoughts of killing an unkillable machine. Drive off a cliff; get smelted into little blocks of metal; sit outside in minus forty; be slowly chopped into thousand pieces; or even let a whole bunch of kindergarteners loose in the interior with sticky jam and paint. Perhaps all of them combined.

"You have a wicked imagination," Sides commented.

I merely glowered, arms crossed over my chest. My eyes flickered as what he said registered, and my brows pulled down even lower.

"Oh hell no."

"What?" Sides asked, and his words corresponded with a questioning feeling in my head.

"I am crazy. I just hit my head, and that is why I'm hearing you in my head. Yes. I'm insane. Yup. Because I'm being stalked and kidnapped – repeatedly – by giant freaking robots that transform into cars. And if that wasn't enough, now I'm hearing said robots in my head? What the hell! No, no I'm dreaming and imagining things, and probably hallucinating. I just hit my head."

I focussed on keeping my head silent, but it took a lot more effort than I thought it would have. If I had ever dreamed of having a relatively focussed mind, that idea was shattered now. The more I tried to fight the weird pressure, the more my head hurt, until I was nearly gasping in pain. Tears ran from my eyes and I was shaking.

I could vaguely hear Sides talking to me, but I didn't have enough concentration to listen.

Something seemed to hit me in the head, and my concentration was shattered at the heavy blow. Suddenly, I could hear the other one in my head, loud and clear.

::Human, if you don't open the bond, I'll open your slimy head,:: I heard, the sound bouncing around loudly. I flinched, rubbing my temples with my fingers.

I tried to block it out even harder, focussing all my power on the image of my family. Mom, Dad, Jace. I was so filled with joy, and an aching feeling in my chest.

My head throbbed heavily, and suddenly Sides was in my head, speaking fast. ::You…you can't separate us! We haven't been together in four vorns! Alex, you wouldn't separate twins, would you?::

I could literally see a pouting face in my head – silver and spiky. Blue gleaming eyes were focussed on me. I screamed, throwing my head backwards and smashing it against the headrest.

He was in my head, as a face, literally? That was too much.

"Sides, get out!" I shouted, _pushing_ hard against the intrusion. It felt like he staggered backwards, and then faded from my mind.

Only to be replaced with an angry silver face, framed with black and gold fin-things.

::If you do not let me talk to Sides _now_, I will ensure that the remaining seconds of your life are supremely painful, understand?::

I shoved at him mentally, too angry, annoyed, frustrated and scared to think about what I was doing.

"So, you kidnapped me because you can talk in _my head_?" I screeched, feeling like I was going to rip an arm off of someone, and revel in the carnage. I wanted to run far away and hide, bury my face in Macy's luscious fur, and hide in the darkness.

This was just too much – how much was one person expected to take? My whole life was irreversibly changed, and I had no say in it at all.

I clenched a fist, ready to scream again, and rip into the plush leather interior. That was probably useless though. It was most likely like ripping off toenails, or even like a tangled set of two hairs. I tried to reassure myself that I was causing more pain than I felt I was through the head-thing.

"Where are we going?" I asked, loosening the tight grip I had on the loud bond enough to hear Sides.

The image of a tall, squat metal building flashed into my head, along with mental snap-shots of a tall, blue and red alien with blue eyes; a lime green and black one; a pure black robot with glowing blue eyes, and more that I didn't catch; images flashed too fast to even comprehend. Emotions flowed as well, respect, annoyance, teasing and love. It was really freaking weird, and I felt almost like I would throw up from the sheer speed of the emotions and pictures.

::What was that?:: I snapped back, accidentally using the open bond as well as shouting – it must have been very loud. The car shuddered, and I heard a heavy growl in my head.

::Get your _filthy_ digits out of _our _bond, organic!:: Sunny snapped. I flinched back, thinking mutinous thougts. He must have been named that for his sparkling attitude.

A shudder from the car around me, and a feeling of mirth through the bond.

::Ha! Hear that, _Sunshine_?:: Sides barked out.

A loud roar from the other vehicle, and the odd sensation of Sides getting a smack in the guts through the bond. Could I do that?

::Fragging human, my _name_ is Sunstreaker. Call me Sunstreaker, or I will rip your organs out with my sword.:: Sunn- Sunstreaker sounded really, really pissed off. Well. I'd never heard him _happy,_ per say, but I was sure that he could be more pleasant than completely homicidal, all the time, right?

A thick cloud of resentment and jealousy washed over me, coming from the resident homicidal robot.

::Slaggit, Alex, you're broadcasting here! Have mercy on a mech's audios!::

I curled a fist up in the seat I was ensconced in, and kicked the dash as hard as I could, over and over. Maybe he'd feel that.

Without even realizing, I'd opened the bond up again – it seemed that unless I was actively focussing on closing it, it popped open, the damned thing. It was like a spring – unless it was being sat on or actively squished, it was completely open.

A tear traced down my cheek.

At that exact moment, I knew, deep inside that I was _never _going to be completely free from these space invaders.

I burst into tears.

* * *

AN: Oh, Alex, honey…Eventually, you won't want to leave them, trust me. :)


	12. Inēluctābilis

**Chapter 12: Inēluctābilis**

(Latin: _from which one cannot extricate one's self, unavoidable, inevitable_)

* * *

AN: Comms use –blah blah–, twins use ::blah blah::, talking is "blah blah" with Cybertronian in _italics._

Happy (slightly belated) New Years Day!

Um… I got so many reviews for the last chapter, it was insane. So, thank you guys who commented _oh so much!_ I send you all little mini Sunstreakers and Sideswipes, with much love! (Who'll probably blow your house up…)

This chapter is pretty much Twins, Alex and Ratchet. Much wrenchiness ensues. (Wrenchiness. I like it.)

So…for some odd reason, everyone thinks Sunshine is an aft. Which is totally ridiculous – who doesn't want to be tortured with electricity and then be threatened with death? –totally sarcasm, I swear!–

This turned into a freaking monster of a chapter…10k plus, and I had already cut the chapter into two parts! This does not bode well for the rest of my story…

* * *

**Terms**: astrosecond – 0.273 seconds

Cycle – about a year

Orn – 13 days

Vorn – 83 years

As-three - Jace

* * *

**Sunstreaker**

He was on his last dregs of energy, and the butter yellow Lamborghini was smoking heavily. In only a little while, he'd go into an emergency stasis situation. The engine was going to require a lot of repair work, but he knew that the Hatchet would be more than able to get him running ship-shape again.

Not that he'd ever _tell_ anyone that.

Another flare of anger and annoyance from the scrap of organic flesh in Sides' front seat.

Primus, he didn't like the little thing. It was loud, pretentious and cowardly.

Like now, for instance. It was shrieking through the bond when it was obvious that doing so wouldn't help the situation in the slightest – how annoying.

Sideswipe had just commed in.

_–Sideswipe to base; Prime, come in.–_

There was a crackle and then a crusty voice was on the comms, a voice they both knew very well. _–Prime's on a mission, Ratchet here. –_

–_Ratchet! I got Sunny, –_

–_Don't call me that, half-bit, –_ Sunstreaker interjected, with Sideswipe talking right over him.

–_And Alexandra,_ – Sideswipe finished.

–_Why did you bring the human girl, Sideswipe?_ – Ratchet snapped.

–_Somehow, she's tied into our bond. We can't go more than ten human miles before she's reading as one of us. And then we can't feel each other anymore,_– Sideswipe explained, poking Sunstreaker through the bond. Most likely for no reason at all.

–_Send me the scans over the last cycle, Sideswipe,–_ Ratchet snapped. _–I'll get a head-start on checking her bio-signals and energy signal.–_

Sunstreaker didn't have to be a genius to sense the evasiveness in his idiot. As if Sideswipe had done those scans.

–_Uh…sure thing.– _He swiftly tried to change the subject, neatly deflecting to his twin who was in rough shape_. –So, Sunny is–_

–_Don't call me that, fragger!–_ He'd been expecting his twin to switch to him in an attempt to detain Ratchet's medic sensibilities. Sunstreaker spoke up, annoyed. _–I'm at 6.27 percent power. Stasis-lock in 0.39 joors.-_

Sideswipe continued right when Sunstreaker finished; he knew exactly when his twin was finished talking. –_We should make it back before he shuts down; we'll keep you posted._ –

–_Sunstreaker, send me an internal diagnostic,_– Ratchet commented, sounding intent. It also sounded like the matter with the human had been shoved to the side of his processor.

He acquiesced, sending in the most recent data.

Through the comm., he could hear Ratchet grumbling and snarling at the data as it streamed into his processor.

–_What did you do; jump face first into the atmosphere?_ – Ratchet mumbled; Sideswipe snickered. The comm. closed.

He smacked his twin through the bond, and was immediately aware of the human's glee at Sideswipe's pain.

They were close to the base; only a few hours now.

He coaxed another turn of speed out of his engine; it snarled and sputtered alarmingly. Warning signs were flashing in his vision constantly now, and he was barely aware of the road.

Sideswipe would never let him live it down if he smashed into a wall.

* * *

**Alex**

I lay against a wall, seated beside Sides, knees tucked up high. I'd cried for what felt like hours, sobbed and screamed out all my emotions as they drove to their base. At first, Sides had tried to talk to me, but I was in no mood to listen to him. I could still feel him through the bond, like an itch that I couldn't really scratch.

The other one was still out of it.

This was all Sideswipe's fault – well, it wasn't. But at the moment, it was much easier to blame it on him than to think rationally. I didn't want to, and I certainly didn't have to.

Pushing hard on the bond was all my anger, rage and utter frustration with the world as a whole.

After a few hours of that, I had been moved out of Sideswipe when he transformed into his robot form. I could tell that both of them were annoyed with me. I knew it was childish to flood the bond with my negative emotions, but I didn't care.

The mean one was the first to snap – I was surprised that he had lasted this long. Sideswipe had told him that he needed to let me be 'a weird human, and leak it all out'. I knew, deep down, that he meant well, but I was in no mood to try alien-relations, so I snapped at him, and smacked through the bond – like I would with Jace when he was being annoying.

The car had shuddered a little bit, and then the rude one – Sunstreaker – had snapped at me. Now, we were just travelling down the highway, and Sideswipe was talking to someone. Not his twin, but someone else. I was almost able to hear it, but not quite.

* * *

**Sideswipe**

For the last hour of driving, he'd been watching Sunny carefully. The golden Lamborghini (a really nice-looking vehicle) had been smoking, and weaving all over the road; barely missing other drivers. He had skidded by a green van, nearly smearing his side-mirror on the other vehicle. Sunny had barely swerved away.

Sideswipe was legitimately surprised that a police officer hadn't chased them to the base – other people surely had called in about a crazed Lamborghini nearly wiping out every vehicle it passed.

He knew it was bad once his fussy brother wasn't even concerned in the slightest about the bug internals decorating his grille and windshield.

They had finally reached the Nevada base, and Sunstreaker immediately shut down, nearly crashing into a wall. His paint was definitely scratched to the Pit now. Ratchet had roared out, smashed his hood with the wrench, and hauled the crumpled vehicle into his med-bay for repairs.

Now, he was standing next to the curled up human while Sunny was being worked on.

There was no way she'd end up helping them; from her emotions, he could tell that she hated them. Or, at the least, did not like them very much. And she was scared of them.

But there was no other way – she needed to be scanned too, so he did have a legitimate reason for it. Mainly, it was selfish though.

He was going to spend the next vorn in the brig, he just knew it. His only consolation would be that Sunny was going to be with him. And that Prowl wasn't here to devise a more sadistic punishment.

There was a possibility that they wouldn't be able to speak through the bond – although really, Prime and the Hatchet were going to rip off his sparkplugs and shove them up his exhaust port, all because he'd brought a little human back with him. Well, maybe Prime would just watch. He wasn't the supremely violent type, really.

It wasn't like he'd _hurt_ Alex, per se (other than the blindness a cycle ago) – but he couldn't say the same about Sunny. Over the bond he'd been getting some pretty strong negative feelings towards the human from his possessive twin. Usually, that was alright. But not towards Alex – she was completely innocent and harmless.

For Primus' sake, she couldn't even use her optics! Even with a retro-rat, there was always the chance of a small bite. She couldn't even do that!

And if Sunny thought that his words towards her – namely, not using her name or the correct pronouns (other than 'it') – then the gold 'bot was more fragged in the head than he should be. He sent a grumpy feeling towards his twin. Although, right now, Sunny didn't have much choice – as soon as they'd pulled into the hangar where the Autobots were staying, the heavily smoking Lamborghini had gone into stasis in a mass of smoke and a few crunching sounds from the engine.

Sideswipe hadn't seen Ratchet move that fast in vorns – in barely an astrosecond, he was in front of the Lamborghini, had pried open the hood and manually transformed Sunstreaker.

Sideswipe sent another tentative pulse towards his offline twin.

Sunny didn't return the feeling – he was still passed out on a berth in med-bay. Sideswipe's spark gave a little twinge, but then it subsided.

Once Sunny was back online and able to process, they were going to meet with Prime (once he got back), and see what to do about Alex. Right now, Prime was out somewhere, fighting off Decepticons. Once he got back, there'd be lots to discuss.

He felt along the bond to the broadcasting human, who was sending out shrieking jolts along the bond, as well as a faint simmering feeling of anger and self-pity. It was really frustrating, and was enough to have his own battle senses on edge, even though he _knew_ that there was nothing happening here. But she couldn't see – so every sound was loud; every _bang_ was a possible problem.

Thank Primus that _he_ would never have to worry about being blind – the Hatchet was a professional at replacing optics. He'd replaced scores of 'bot's optics that had been crushed or stopped working for whatever reason.

It was too bad that the same thing didn't really work for humans. Honestly – they were so fragging _delicate_. One wrong move and he'd have intestines all over his servos. He was no Sunstreaker, but the idea was pretty slagging nasty.

Alex was sitting on the floor next to him, head buried in her lower joints (which he thought were called _knees_, according to the Internet). She was shaking, but he didn't think it was from cold. He still hadn't been able to bring himself to scan her thoroughly again. And he knew that once the Hatchet learned that small detail, he was going to deactivate Sideswipe.

But there was probably nothing wrong with her! Honestly, she was still walking, talking and making sense (most of the time). She was fine.

Beside him, she shook a little more, and a small noise came from her. He ran a peripheral scan, barely touching her. It caused jitters to run down his spinal strut and he felt like taking off as fast as he could. The data came back clean – no fever, no skin condition (well, other than the energon burns on her skin), and she wasn't sweating.

Eh. Humans were too weird.

He could feel her fear deep inside his spark – the gut-wrenching, complete blackness that she felt, peppered with little slices of light in the form of noises. It was terrible – so lonely.

The 'bot glanced down at her again, and wondered if he should have brought her back. He knew that Sunny only wanted her here because the bond was then open.

Primus, they were selfish. But the idea of not being able to _talk_ to Sunny without words, to simply _feel_ what his twin was thinking was too alluring, the pain too much to bear if he were able to see his twin all the time, and not feel him.

Besides, Alex's family wasn't even home. She'd accidentally flopped her capture into the bond as she mulled it over, still leaking fluids in his front seat. It had made him angry, but at that moment, there was nothing he could do about a captured family. But once Sunny was okay again, he wanted to go after them, and get her family back.

There was something niggling at his senses though. She had fallen asleep on the way here – completely exhausted – and her dreams had been filled with pain. He thought it was a rendition of what happened to her in the lab, when Sunny rescued her, but the humans had ripped her open.

In the dream, they had cut open her chassis-area, as well as her shoulder. They had taken something out, but had been interrupted by Sunstreaker.

So then how had her chassis healed? For a human, a wound that size should have been fatal – they were so slagging _soft_, and _fragile_. What was _wrong_ with this little human, this tiny scrap of bone and blood that healed at a rate that should be impossible for _any_ human?

Briefly, he contemplated picking Alex up and moving into the med-bay, to wait for his twin to wake up. But Ratchet had told him that if he even set one pede in the med-bay, he'd have to wait a vorn for Ratchet to reattach it.

So he was waiting just outside with Alex, who was clamping down on the bond hard. He could still feel her self-pity though, and didn't know what to do about it, so he tried to send reassuring feelings. She felt sort of torqued too, like she wanted to rip his helm off.

She was a weird little thing. But she was funny. He was sure that Sunny would like her once he got over his irrational jealousy that Sides would ditch him for the organic, or some stupid slag like that. Sunny was oddly insecure like that, but Sideswipe didn't mind. He'd always be there for his twin.

He knew that Sunny would like Alex, eventually. After all, if Ratchet couldn't fix the bond, she'd be with them for the next vorn or so. Even if Prime wanted them to put her back with her family (which he most likely would – freedom is the right of all sentient beings, and all) but they would _need_ her. Sure it was selfish, but he refused to be separate from his twin if there was a way to keep them connected. Even if that amounted to randomly stealing the human every orn or so, he'd do it. Anything to stay connected to Sunny.

Not to mention how _grumpy_ Sunstreaker got when he couldn't feel Sideswipe for any amount of time. Primus, what a diva.

He knew that once the Hatchet was done with his brother, he'd come, wrench held high, to check the human and to bash Sideswipe in the helm repeatedly for whatever reason. He seemed to find it calming.

His audials caught a sound, and he turned his helm to see the Hatchet stalking towards him, a dark scowl on his face plates. Swiftly, the urge to bolt hit him, but he resisted. For the human – she couldn't see the Hatchet, and his rough handling would probably kill her.

The silver 'bot rose to his pedes quickly, ready to jump if the Hatchet chucked a wrench at him. Instead, the lime green 'bot opened a private comm. channel, wrench disappearing into subspace.

–_What the frag did you do, Sideswipe? Why in the Pit is a human here, and why is her energy signal so fragging warped? She's reading like you two fraggers.– _The medic brandished his wrench, pulled again from subspace.

–_Send me the latest scans,–_ he demanded, kneeling in front of the tiny human and running a high density scan on her internals.

Sideswipe barely had an astrosecond of warning before Alex writhed across the floor, splaying from her seated position and screamed at audio-shattering decibels. Immediately Ratchet pulled back, servos trying to protect his audios, much like Sideswipe was doing.

She panted, servos (hands?) curled protectively around her middle. Immediately, Sideswipe was sending reassuring emotions through the bond that had flared with her distress. After a few moments, she seemed to notice that she was broadcasting again, and clamped the bond shut.

* * *

**Alex**

I was leaning against a wall, aware through some other sense (and that mental _bond_ thing) that Sides was right beside me, sitting silently. Or standing – could giant robots sit down like people? I rather doubted it.

Jeez, I was tired. It was like all my energy had been sapped out, and all I wanted to do was sleep. Sleep and sleep some more. And maybe eat a little bit – something light and easy to digest.

I concentrated again, focussing on narrowing the connectors of the bond. It was even more difficult than when both of them were awake. From what I could tell, when the rude one, Sunstreaker, was awake, Sides' portion wasn't trying so hard to connect with him.

Now that Sunstreaker was sleeping, or unconscious or whatever, it was like Sides' bond was smashing itself ferociously against my head, trying to connect with his twin. It hurt a lot – I felt like my head was going to explode eventually, and I had the mother of all migraines. My chest still throbbed once in a while, but I couldn't feel any hole in my chest. Which was insanely weird.

It seemed to have healed up right away – how was that possible? I didn't think on it too much – I wasn't bleeding out, therefore, I was alright for now.

Were my parents and Jace still alright? How long had I been travelling with Sides (who apparently was also named Sideswipe – the rude one had called him that), and before that, with Sunstreaker? Were they still alive?

I hoped so. And at the moment, that was all I could do. I hated it. I hated being so helpless.

But it didn't look like anything I could do would have that much effect, nor would learning martial arts or something else equally ridiculous do any good. I was blind.

I felt a nudge in my head. I let the bond slip open again, damn it.

It was worse than trying to watch a toddler. If I stopped concentrating on the blasted thing for more than a few seconds, it'd spring open and Sideswipe would be sending me calm feelings and excitement and all sorts of emotions that I _so_ did _not_ want to deal with. I wanted him to leave me and my family the hell alone.

I snapped this at him through the bond, but I could tell that he was ignoring my bad mood, instead focused on his excitement that his homicidal twin was still alive and kicking.

Fantastic. I just _love_ having constant death threats and evil glares in my head. Makes my day.

Although, I didn't want the alien _dead_, I just wanted him out of my head. Permanently.

So far, chances of that were slim.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and some clicking. I felt a few tangled emotions from Sides – _happiness, fear, concern, excitement, teasing – _before I clamped it shut tighter and buried my face deeper into my knees. It didn't concern me. Why was Sideswipe even here still? Shouldn't he be with his homicidal (and still unconscious) twin?

Scalding pain washed over my front, like an intense wave of heat. I shrieked, mental grip on the bond loosening and ripping free. My skin felt like it was melting; my organs liquefying. Throwing my arms open, I tried to roll and escape the burning, torturous sensations. What the hell was this? I wrapped my arms around my stomach, feeling my stomach roll with nausea. Sideswipe shot me calming feelings so I tamped down on the bond again, cutting out Sideswipe. I didn't need him.

I could feel Sunstreaker too, almost awake – most likely from my pain. I frantically threw some calm feelings that way, not wanting the homicidal maniac to be awake and ready to rip my arms off.

Through the closed bond, I could feel Sideswipe talking to someone. Curiosity got the better of me, and I opened it a tiny bit.

–So what in the fragging Pit was that? Humans shouldn't be able to feel the scans, much less feel _pain_ from one. When did this start?–

Sideswipe mumbled a reply, and I could feel his sheepishness.

–I don't really know… I haven't scanned her internals in nearly a cycle.–

There was a slight pause, and I opened the bond a fraction more, making sure I didn't miss anything. It sort of sounded like Sideswipe was going to have the tires beaten off of him. How exciting!

A guttural growl. –_How _long has it been since a proper scan?– The other voice was cold and scary, and through the bond I could see a yellow-green, silver and black alien with glowing blue eyes. The sight caused my heart to jump and cold sweat to break out on my skin. I could see myself out of the corner of Sides' eyes, which was more than a little strange. I looked rough, but not as bad as I expected.

I don't know what I expected. I still looked vaguely human, just scarred up and wearing an awful puke-green shirt. At least it was a _real _shirt, and not a disappearing one.

My attention was caught by the other robot, and Sides' reply.

–Um…nearly a cycle. I didn't think she'd have this severe a reaction, but I just _couldn't_ scan her. I felt like I'd explode if I did.– He was dancing away from the pale green alien that was brandishing a giant wrench.

So…was this yellow-ish one the one that had scanned me and caused such bone-melting pain? I could still feel the remnants burning away beneath the skin, and when I moved my arms, the pain lanced through them again.

I curled them tightly to myself, hoping that the robots would just leave me alone. If I was alone here long enough, I'd be able to leave, right?

Through my ears, I could hear the harsh _clang_ – most likely, that other alien had bashed him in the head with the wrench. Sideswipe's feelings were running more towards the annoyed and relieved spectrum. He wasn't hurt? Damn.

–You fragging idiot! I should reformat you as a light fixture, you irresponsible glitch. I give you one fragging job, and you mess it up!–

Another _clang_.

–Why did you think it okay to just superficially scan her, when you knew that energon had a detrimental effect on humans? What if this offlines her permanently? Who knows what the energon is doing in her body, right now!–

I smashed the bond shut, heart pounding. Offline. Was that like, dying? Why was I going to die? I swallowed, trying to calm my heart and head, keeping the bond firmly shut. Something touched my head, and I jumped sideways, feeling my heart explode in a faster rhythm.

"Sorry, Ms. Wells. I didn't mean to startle you." It was the wrench-wielder. I flinched lower to the ground, hoping he wouldn't torture me like Sunstreaker had done.

My thoughts ran to a halt. Sunstreaker had been the one to torture me, not some human. Before I could focus on that overly much, the alien spoke again.

"I need to scan you, and take you into my med-bay. Sideswipe was supposed to scan you, but…" I could almost tell that he was glaring vehemently at the other alien.

Immediately, I shook my head. "No – it hurts too much. And…" I bit my lip, regretting my sudden outburst. But there was no way in hell that I was voluntarily going in to get an alien to scan me – especially since I couldn't see, and that first scan-thing had been like torture in and of itself. Volunteering for that? I think not.

The voice was a little more firm.

"I need to scan you, to ascertain the damage energon has caused."

I was shaking my head before he finished.

"No – if you care at all for my opinions, you'll leave me alone." Well, that came out quite well, I thought, feeling smug.

"Look, human. I'm the commanding medical officer. This means I make sure that everyone in this fragging building who has even a drop of energon is under my direct supervision. This includes you. And since you have never received a scan since a cycle ago, I am going to scan you. Regardless if you want it or not."

As he spoke, I became more and more tense; with each word, I resembled a statue even more. I swallowed; body tense as a bowstring.

I shook my head. "No, don't. I'm not an alien. You have no jurisdiction over me!"

I could feel my chest tightening, and my breathing increase. With each frenetic beat of my heart, a flicker was appearing in my vision.

A huffing noise, and then my vision cleared nearly entirely. I could see a giant, dark, red-tinted hand reaching for me. I shrieked, leaping to the side. There was a silver-red tinted robot (Sideswipe, most likely) that I didn't get a very good look at it, partially due to my shock at being able to see, as well as the nature of our discussion. The one connected to the hand was a very weird colour – what appeared to be red and chartreuse mixed together in a very odd way. The middle of the robot was bright red, like Sunstreaker's chest had been.

Apparently, once aliens (who happened to be gigantic transforming cars) had been out-argued, they simply picked up the innocent humans and did what they wanted.

No way was he getting me.

I darted forwards, past Sideswipe's reaching arm and the pushy one's grasping hands. Whirling past the hands, I darted down the hallway.

Where in the hell was I? I hadn't seen anything coming in, obviously enough. So I could be absolutely anywhere.

Racing at top speed down a massive hallway, I started swearing under my breath. They were going to catch me in a matter of moments.

I heard the sound of Sideswipe transforming, and racing after me. Swearing, I tried to move a little faster, but it was useless. He transformed as he swivelled around me, neatly swallowing me into his interior.

"I am _not_ being scanned again, Sideswipe, I swear to you."

"Alex, we just want to help. And the Hatchet is the best!"

He was sending me reassuring feelings through the bond – it was like being held down and showered with affection. I was trapped inside Sideswipe, with no way to escape.

"When I think medical officer, I don't think 'Hatchet,' Sides. Let me go." My vision was fading, fading back into black.

::You know if I let you go, Hatchet'll have you in the med-bay, and have scanned the slag out of you before you can say 'Primus.':: Sides commented through the bond.

"Yeah, but–,"

"He's going to track you down eventually, and scan you. Might as well get it over with."

I clamped down on the open bond again, feeling annoyed and the feelings of reassurance from Sides diminishing. I couldn't see again – my vision was black again. Swallowing heavily, I clenched my hands tightly and ground my teeth. I wished that my eyes would either _stay_ on, or _stay _off. Having the intermittent hope was just too depressing.

I took a deep breath. "No, I'm not going to be here very long – therefore, he has no reason to scan me," I tried hopefully.

The car shivered as Sideswipe made an odd noise I had associated with laughter.

"Doesn't matter to the Hatchet – you were scanned by him when you were in the hospital. That makes you eternally his patient."

It took me a few moments to realize what Sideswipe was talking about. This rude, pushy alien was the one who was the doctor in my room? My doctor had been an alien?

Sideswipe sent a confirmation along the open bond. Angrily, I slammed it closed again. Damn thing – always popping open.

I tried to pry open the door, working my fingers under the handle, but Sideswipe was keeping himself closed.

He played his trump card. "Ratchet might have an answer for the random flashes of vision that you keep on having."

I faltered, imagining being able to see again. ::He… could help me see again?:: I thought, the bond wide open in my shock.

::Yes.:: Sideswipe's voice was dark and seductive –the thrill of regaining what I had lost.

Not thinking about it anymore. ::I'll do it.::

–**x–x–x–x–x–x–x– **

I was hauled into the med-bay, courtesy of Sideswipe. He was radiating emotions; the robot seemed to be excited to be in med-bay, as well as sort of sneaky. What a weirdo.

The doctor – or, medic , as he was called – had pulled me out of Sideswipe, despite my protests. I could walk – it wasn't like I was an invalid. Granted, I didn't know where anything was, but I wasn't going to die (hopefully). Then again, I had no idea if there were giant girl-eating plants here or piles of scrap metal, or even poles standing up at my level.

The other robot – yellow-green, red-tinted one – put me down on a surface. It would be a bad idea to wander around. I had no idea if he had placed me up high on a table or lower. I had no desire to meet the floor with my face.

There was a metallic bang from behind me, and an immediate feeling of pain in my head. It wasn't my pain (I could tell that much) but Sideswipe's. It had a strange, echoing feeling to it. I growled lowly, closing the bond. Damn thing, open again.

I heard a harsh noise behind me, clicking and grating.

"What was that for, Ratchet?" Sideswipe whined. Whined. Now I'd heard everything. Giant alien robots whining.

I hooked my right hand around myself, touching the area of the wound with my left. Through the shirt, I could feel only a little bit. I'd have another crazy scar on my chest. Fantastic. More, to match my face and arms.

The medic seemed to explode. "What was th– You slagging pile of junk-heap rejects! I gave you one fragging job – scan the girl every two orns. A thorough scan. And now, you haul her in here, more scarred than before and a different energy signal – and you tell me that she hasn't been scanned properly _once_?!"

There was another smash, and I felt some pain. The bond was open again. I slammed it shut, annoyed. This sort of sounded like it might take a while. I sat down, hoping there was nothing underneath me. It felt like smooth, cold metal.

"And what in the Pit is wrong with you?! When did you notice that her energy signal is fragged? When you noticed, did it occur in that slagged processor of yours to _comm. in, and tell me?!_"

Even though the rage wasn't directed at me, I still felt a shiver of fear. Checking swiftly, I knew that it was me – the bond was still firmly closed.

Another bang. I wasn't sure what that was from – was it Sideswipe just playing with metal, ignoring the ranting doct-medic who sounded like he was out for blood? Or whatever the aliens had in their…bodies? Vehicles?

On second thought, it was probably the wrench making that noise.

"Why, when you noticed that her energy signal scans as Sunstreaker and you, why didn't your half-bit, virus-ridden chassis _call in_ when you noticed such an anomaly? I can understand Sunstreaker not, because he was driving on _fumes_, but you _have no excuse!_"

Another clang. I was thinking, from the pain that was leaking through the bond, that the medical officer was hitting Sideswipe. With the wrench. Was that normal? Medical officers beating their patients?

A tiny (okay, large) part of me was delighted that Sideswipe was getting beaten on, seeing as I wasn't in any sort of position to hurt the massive lug.

"Ratchet," Sideswipe whined.

"Don't you 'Ratchet' me, you glitching motherboard."

My stomach growled.

Immediately, both aliens were silent.

And then Ratchet was off again.

"Did you let her eat _even_ _once _on the way here?" he growled out. I wrapped my arms around my knees, pulling them up to my chest. A certain fondness was growing in me – if only for the fact that Ratchet was able to hurt Sideswipe.

After a few more minutes of bellowing from Ratchet and whining from Sideswipe who was in pain (but I could feel his fondness for the ranting medical officer – damn it! I slammed the bond closed again), the medical officer turned to me.

"Ms. Wells –"

"– Alex, please," I interrupted. Ms. Wells sounded old.

"Alex. A complete and thorough scan will take approximately twelve of your seconds. Unfortunately, we have discovered that the scan causes you pain. I have a few ideas."

I nodded, stomach churning. It was probably a good thing that the last time I had eaten was more than a few hours ago. Otherwise I might upchuck on the robot.

"Sideswipe said that you'd help me with my vision?" I asked hesitantly.

There was a pause. "Alex… Your retinas have been damaged beyond any possible vision. I cannot help you with your eyes."

He said it gently, but it still hurt.

Stung, I hugged my legs tighter. Sideswipe had lied. I didn't care much about the rest of my body – it wasn't in pain, or falling apart (and I doubted that he could help with the scars). But my eyes were a constant source of pain and irritation. Especially since I had seen twice since my accident. And once in Sideswipe's head.

"Not even with the flashes?" I mumbled into my knees. There was no way he could have heard me.

"Flashes?" Ratchet's voice was sharp, questioning. Sideswipe's curiosity echoed through the bond – I slammed it closed again. I had underestimated their hearing.

"Yeah. I've seen twice now," I muttered into my knees again, not really expecting much.

"Tell me about them," he demanded, and I felt the surface I was on shudder, as well as a metallic bang.

Sideswipe cut in. "You've seen? When?" His voice was excited.

I pulled my face out of my knees.

"Once when Sunstreaker…" I was hesitant in saying 'tortured' with Sideswipe there for a reason I didn't want to examine. "When he… got me away from the humans. And just now when you… chased me."

"Hmmm…" Ratchet mumbled, suddenly. "Are they activated by stress or excitement, due to the excess hormones circulating?"

I shrugged, not really interested in the medical side of the phenomenon. I just wanted to see again.

"Or could it be from the energon…although, you shouldn't _have _any…" The medical officer mumbled, his words not making much sense to me as he talked to himself.

There was a harsh _bang. _"Sideswipe, stop poking Sunstreaker, you fragging sparkling."

He addressed me again. "I'm going to need to scan you, to even start looking at solutions for your eyes, Alex."

I swallowed, and then nodded. "You said you had some solutions for the pain?" I hinted.

"Yes. I could put you under for the duration of the scan, I could give you medications to control pain, or-"

I cut in. "Pain medication doesn't work on me," I managed, mind flashing back to what the men had done and commented when they cut me open.

The medic was quiet for a few moments. "Since when has this development happened?"

I shrugged, sitting on the metal surface with my legs pulled up to my chest. "I only figured it out around the time… Sunstreaker… uh… saved me from the other humans."

I didn't want to tell him all about how they held me down, and cut me open, and how I probably should have died from that. It was none of his business. And when I left here, I'd never see another robot in my life.

Oh, the dreams of the young and foolish. I was changing. Even now, I could tell. I was more jaded, less open. What I'd been through would do that to a girl.

"How long ago was that?" Ratchet asked.

"I have no idea. My sense of time is a little off. Ask him."

"I wonder… will general anesthesia work on you then?" he asked, mumbling to himself. I got the feeling it wasn't really a question for me.

Sideswipe was oddly silent, and I checked the bond to see what he was up to. He was just sitting and staring at his twin. Weird. I slammed it closed, before he knew that I was checking up on him… Oh man. I was checking up on him. Why?

Wasn't like I cared about the bucket of bolts. Matter of fact, I wanted them to both be in a world of pain for what they did to me… Or did I?

I wasn't really the vindictive type, but what they did was inexcusable.

Ratchet seemed to be done his mumbling, as he spoke louder and I listened to what he had to say.

"Alex, we're going to try putting you under, just briefly. Is that acceptable?"

I nodded, hoping the drugs worked on me. I didn't want to go through that pain again if I didn't have to.

Something was dropped into my arms, making me jump with the surprise. I felt it over, and had no idea what it was.

::A gas mask,:: Sideswipe helpfully supplied. I got a picture of myself, holding the piece of plastic and straps backwards and upside down. I flipped it over.

::Don't worry, Alex, the Hatchet knows what he's doing.::

I felt relieved.

A pause, and then I slammed the bond closed again. Reading my emotions that were leaking through the open (again!) bond. Damn it – I needed better control than this!

Ratchet spoke, his voice easily discernible from Sideswipe's. "Try it on, then; let's see if you can be knocked out with normal gas."

I ignored the excited tone to his voice; Liam had used to sound like that when he was doing a chemistry experiment. The idea of discovering something new.

I guess that applied to aliens who were playing doctor too.

Slipping the mask over my face, I adjusted it until it was snug and not slipping off. Sideswipe snickered.

Ratchet spoke, sounding closer. "Alex, I am going to attach the gas mix, and start it."

I nodded, feeling my heart rate increase a little bit, even though I wasn't really sure why. I wasn't scared or overly excited. I didn't know what I was thinking.

Too much was going on. I needed more time to process this – I needed to sit down, to scream, cry or even sleep.

I wanted to go home.

Something touched my face; a hand. I squealed in shock, lunging backwards. The mask slipped as the hand moved.

"Alex, this is just my holoform – you've encountered it before, as well as Sideswipe's."

The hand touched my arm; moved back up to my face to correct the mask.

"Holoform?" I asked, wondering how they could have a holoform; what it was made of; how it worked.

"High frequency vibrating particles that are then focussed over with a hologram, tied in to our sparks. Quite complicated."

I nodded absently, thinking it through. It sounded complicated.

The mask moved a bit; he must be attaching the gas. Geez, I hoped the mix wasn't lethal.

"No noise," I commented, suddenly realizing why the doctor had scared me so much with the holoform. It hadn't made any noise at all, other than a very faint humming sound when it was really close to my ear.

"No, we didn't add excess noise into the holoform. So sounds like footsteps or clothing rustling is absent. Wheeljack and Hound were working on it, but the one we've been using is merely a first stage replication until they join us here on Earth."

::Surprising that Wheeljack didn't blow himself up,:: Sideswipe snickered, throwing in his two cents. I slammed the connection between us shut again.

That was getting really annoying, really fast. Damn it.

I felt like I was moving in molasses; my limbs didn't respond as fast as I wanted. Perhaps that was the gas working? I hoped so.

If it didn't work, was his next method a good old-fashioned smack on the head with the wrench? I'd most likely die from that level of medical treatment.

"Okay, I'm starting the gas." He continued to mutter and mumble to himself, and Sideswipe started cracking jokes to make me laugh. Probably so I would go unconscious faster from breathing heavily.

Unfortunately, they were all jokes that made no sense to me – had he not looked up _any_ decent jokes?

Wait. I didn't want him to be funny. I wanted him to piss off, and leave me alone, with my family (and humans) for the rest of my life.

I took in deep breaths, tasting a slightly metallic taste on the back of my throat, but not feeling dizzy at all. My headache was still pounding away, a drum rhythm in my head.

After a few hefty gulps, I spoke. "So, how long before the gas kicks in?"

"Well… technically, you should be out already."

"Huh."

::You trust him.::

What was this? I didn't trust the medical officer; hell, I didn't trust any of them as well as I could see them. Which was completely black.

Sideswipe was being ridiculous. I did not trust _any _of these creatures.

::Sure. You would let him knock you out.:: He sounded oh-so-smug; I wanted to kick him in the eyes. That seemed the most likely to be a weak point.

::No, I don't,:: I informed him loudly. ::I just don't want to be in excruciating pain for the scan.::

::And if the gas doesn't work?::

::It'll work.:: It had to. I was not getting scanned while I was still awake.

::As well as it is now?:: He probed, making me want to smack him even more.

I slammed the bond closed in a fit of pique. Damn alien robot, hinting that I even felt the slightest bit safe with them.

This was the same doctor as the one in the hospital who gave me the medication that actually helped. He had never seemed to have an ulterior motive, and I had no reason to _not _trust him.

If the aliens were _anything_ like humans, there were members of their race (however limited _that_ number was) that were untrustworthy. Just like humans.

I didn't want to judge an entire race on how one set of morons had treated me.

Right? That was the grown-up thing to do.

So yes, I trusted the medical officer. Much (much much) more than I trusted the torturer and the kidnapper.

I trusted the medical officer enough to be unconscious around him; whereas with the other two, I don't think I slept even once on my trip to wherever we were now. I just felt that it would be a really bad idea, and not the innocent type of bad idea that leads you to be the first to fall asleep at a sleepover and wake up with marker all over your face, but the type of bad idea that can be fatal. Like motorcycling along the edge of a cliff at over a hundred miles an hour. That kind of bad idea. The colossally stupid bad idea.

There was no way I could trust them. They had never given me any reason to trust them.

Ratchet's voice broke into my thoughts. "Alex, it has been three point two minutes of consistent inhalation of the gaseous agent; I think we can assume you aren't affected."

I nodded, taking off the mask. "So, what other options are open?"

Suddenly, Sideswipe was back into the conversation. "Hey, Ratchet, can Alex do that thing like Sunny and I do?"

There was an ominous silence from the medical officer, before he grunted. "I don't know if that's wise, but apart from that, there is only blunt-force trauma, or strangulation."

I squeaked at hearing my options. Sounded like the wrench was back on the table.

"What is the Sunstreaker and Sideswipe thing?" I asked, with no little amount of caution. Who knew what it might be – any number of idiotic, completely fatal for a human things were possible. Not to mention that Sunstreaker wanted to _off_ me; I wasn't completely stupid. I knew he _wanted_ to kill me.

And then Sideswipe wondered why I didn't want to stick around. Daft idiot – his _twin_ was a homicidal sociopath. He shared headspace with the thing, why was this taking so long to sink in?!

Suddenly, something was pulling at me, sucking me out. _Out of what?_ I wondered, feeling like my feet were leaving the table, butt rising to float; yet I could feel myself sitting down firming.

Floating peacefully, I could feel nothing all around me. I was sure I would be terrified, yet I couldn't be bothered. I was safe, warm and protected. It was wonderful.

I was safe, protected; there was a faint feeling of someone all around me, but not. It felt like Sideswipe and that should have been enough to scare me, but it didn't matter; wherever I was so safe and warm and comfortable that I never wanted to leave. I could barely feel my body, just my mind floating peacefully.

There was a dull blur of noise, where I thought I could hear Sideswipe's voice for a moment, overlaid with Ratchet's, and then I could feel a very faint, tingling feeling in my fingers and toes. Not enough to hurt, or even startle me really, but it tickled.

I floated in the void for a little while, thinking slowly about what I was going to do. I could vaguely feel Sideswipe all around me.

The feeling faded, making me more aware of my fingers and toes, then my arms and legs and finally my head and face. I could move all the pieces, and I could feel my tailbone pressing uncomfortably hard against the metal table. I shifted to relieve the pressure.

There was a smug feeling from Sideswipe, his equivalent to an 'I told you so' as well as a 'That didn't hurt, did it?' It was interesting how those two meanings could be merged into one quick feeling.

::What did you do?:: I asked him, still feeling sluggish.

::I pulled your consciousness into mine; that way, you didn't have to be unconscious for the Hatchet to scan you,:: he explained, sounding earnest. ::Sunny and I do it once in a while.::

I couldn't think straight – it was impossible to be mad with him right now, even though later on I knew I would be. The jerk hadn't even _asked _me before sucking me out of my mind. I didn't trust him at all, and if asked which one was better (blunt-force trauma or sucked-out) I wasn't sure which one I would choose.

Ratchet's voice floated into my ears slowly, fading into focus.

"-n you hear me?"

Blearily, I nodded, blinking with slow, languid flexion of the muscles in my eyelids. It didn't change what I saw (nothing) but it was a habit.

I felt some derision, and immediately _knew_ who was awake.

How long had I been out? He had still be unconscious, or deactivated or whatever when I… was sucked out of my own head.

"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker have the ability to pull each other into their minds, through their twin-bond. He did the same thing with you."

I didn't know what to say. Sideswipe had sucked me into his mind? Then the anger hit. How dare he?! I didn't want that! There was no way I trusted him enough to be put in that kind of situation!

::If I gave you warning, you'd have tensed and fought, like you're doing now..::

::The fragger woke me up,:: Sunstreaker groused, apparently forgetting for a moment that I was in the bond. I could feel _exactly_ when he remembered; immediately through the bond, he felt more secluded and isolated, annoyed and angry. Very angry. Enough so that I would be listening as hard as I could to try and avoid an _accidental _stepping on.

I smashed the bond closed as hard as I could.

Asshole.

I could still (even through the closed bond) feel his anger at me. Apparently, I hadn't been quiet enough. He'd definitely heard me. Unless he was just upset about this whole thing, in which case, I completely agreed with him. This whole thing was bogus.

I wanted to go home.

Ratchet spoke. "I've analyzed the straight raw data obtained from the scan."

I shoved the matter with the twins from my mind, immediately feeling more tired. Had Sideswipe sucked energy from me too? I wouldn't put it past him.

"And?" I breathed, hoping and worrying and barely breathing.

He hesitated, which instantly caused my pulse to skyrocket. "What is it?" I added after a few moments of silence, the medic clearly deliberating on what to tell me.

"The changes in your body make no sense. According to my scans, all of your hematocrit has merged with the energon that blinded you and scarred your skin, and your body has adjusted to it. But the compounds I administered to you in the hospital should have caused the energon to be excreted, not absorbed. As well, your energy signal is a mixture of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's, oddly enough. Did you ever come into contact with Sunstreaker's energon?"

I raised my shoulders hesitantly. I didn't remember such an occurrence, but that wasn't all that difficult. After all, at the time he was torturing me and saving me from humans. It wasn't surprising to realize that I had no idea, other than pain, what had happened to me.

There was a deeper flash of annoyance from Sunstreaker, a deep, simmering hatred boiling in him. It was scary, especially since I knew it was mostly directed at me.

Frankly, it made me want to run and hide.

"I spilled some on it when I took it from the other biologicals."

There was a smash that made me jump from the suddenness of the sound. Another bolt of phantom pain through the bond, and Sideswipe's snickering.

"You didn't tell me till _now_ that you both got energon in her system?"

It sounded like the medical officer was torqued about this too, and revving up for another marathon rant, complete with pain. I slammed the bond closed when I felt Sideswipe's amusement at my thinking.

The medic ranted at the other two for a few minutes, with me zoning out to think some more about what was going on. It felt like all I was doing right now was thinking: about my family, my dog, school, my life, and the giant robots.

How had he scanned me without me feeling _anything_?

"Alex." I lifted my head, eyes open even though it was blank. It was always going to be blank – there was no sense in getting my hopes up, even in the slightest.

"I'll need more time to look at the data I've gotten, as well as run thorough scans on these two fraggers to see how you are intertwined in their coding. As far as your eyes go, I need to check with the previous data I have on them to see how they compare. Also, I'll need to talk to you some more about your vision – how much you've seen, what, when, information like that. It might take me a while to analyze all the data though, especially if the other group comes in with injuries, but I'll do my best."

"How long?" I asked, hoping it wouldn't be an obscene amount of time, because if that were the case, I'd just leave. I was not spending my whole life with a group of giant robots. Especially with one who had designs on killing me.

Idly, I wondered why the idea of being killed by giant robot foot didn't fill me with more trepidation, or all out screaming terror. Maybe it was because I had no plans for my life, sad and angsty as that sounded.

But it was true.

"At least a week."

I bit my bottom lip, worrying the tender flesh. "Can you try to do it as fast as possible? I really need to see if I can get…" My thoughts spiralled off in a different tangent.

I opened the bond, feeling Sunstreaker's anger.

::Fragging organic, leave the bond open! Why do you think I'm letting you live?!::

::Sunny, you'll make her close it again, slagger!:: There was some shoving through the bond.

I took a deep breath, ignoring Ratchet's mumbling and talking, intently focussing on the two.

::So, you two want me to leave the bond open, correct?::

I could feel Sideswipe's vehement nodding, and Sunstreaker's snarled affirmative.

::Then I have a proposition. If I leave the bond open, you two have to promise to retrieve my family from the government people, as soon as possible.::

::Deal!:: Sideswipe chirped quickly, covering over Sunstreaker's grumbling of how he would kill me if I _didn't_ leave it open.

::We'll discuss it with Prime when he gets back with the others within a few of your days,:: Sideswipe explained. ::Right now, he's out on a mission.::

I sent a feeling of affirmation through the bond, feeling no duplicitous thoughts or emotions from either of the twins.

I was feeling a rush of energy, the feeling stemming from the exalting feeling of _for once_ having something go my way through negotiation.

I tuned back into Ratchet, and nodded. "I'll wait the week."

Although I still felt like I was forgetting something.

–**x–x–x–x–x–x–x– **

A human man who had introduced himself as Mike took me to a room, and grabbed me a tray of food which I pecked at. My stomach was too tight to eat much, and I didn't want to simply throw the food back up.

I had discovered with a little bit of fooling around that I didn't have to have the bond in the forefront of my mind for it to be working. If I wasn't actively thinking about it, it was just like a conversation in my ears or sometimes like music – Sideswipe had a habit of humming, and Sunstreaker would harmonize (I was pretty sure he wasn't even sure he was doing it). It was constant noise, but after a few hours I barely noticed it.

I explored my room, feeling the small space out and mapping it in my mind. A bed, sheets, and a pillow. No windows. A small table beside the bed with a little empty drawer. There was a tiny bathroom attached, merely a toilet and a sink.

The door locked from the inside. I clicked the lock, and climbed into the bed, not taking off any of my clothes, just in case.

That was going to be my mantra for the next while. Just in case.

As I lay down, my mind wandered through the day. I still had the feeling I was forgetting something. Something important.

'_Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's energon, oddly enough.'_

When had I ever been in contact with Sideswipe's energon? What _was _energon?

'_Compounds_ _I administered to you in the hospital should have caused the energon to be excreted, not absorbed.'_

He was the doctor from the hospital. Who 'cured' me. After I was… blinded… by energon?

'_Merged with the energon that blinded you…'_

'_Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's energon, oddly enough.'_

Sideswipe… A knot of horror raced through me, causing me to vomit over the side of the bed.

Sideswipe was the one who blinded me. It all fit. All the pieces slotted into place, heavy and solid.

Why I had his energon in me – the one robot had been leaking fluid. It had been silver, and from what I had seen in my head, he was silver. His vehicle was a silver Corvette. He had been at my school, checking in on me.

Sideswipe had been the one to blind me.

* * *

**Jace Wells, S7 Bunker**

They should have known better than to leave him by a computer. Even with the limited abilities of this old computer, they shouldn't have left him here. He _had _hacked into the government files – that was why he was here, after all. Or why they _said _he was here. But it made no sense to take his family too.

That wasn't important now – right now, he needed to get out.

He had hacked in swiftly, and from there, it was a piece of cake. He set his location to loop over and over, hopefully shielding him. He located his Mom and Dad, both unharmed and in separate rooms. But Alex wasn't in the building. He scanned it over again, checking for his little sister. Nothing.

He threw a swift glance at the corner where the guard was slumped unconscious. Jace had hit him over the head with a chair that had been loose. The man was alive, and this meant the pass was now his. Hopefully he could use it to open the outside door that he was going to escape out of – that was the only one that wasn't remote controlled.

* * *

**S7 Security**

Q sipped his hot latte with a sense of anticipation. Any moment now, AS-three would be making his move, hacking into the computer that he had been graciously deposited at and left alone for five minutes. If he couldn't hack the computer in that time, he wasn't worthy.

One of the techs spoke, and he was instantly riveted to the young man speaking.

"Sir, AS-three is responding as you predicted. He's hacked into the mainframe you set up for him on the computer, and has set a loop running."

"Excellent," Q purred out, a tiny smirk coming to his lips. He did so love it when people played their parts with perfection.

Now, now would be the interesting bit. Would Jace Wells go for his family, with the intent of getting them all out? That would indicate a strong moral code, which would change how he presented his proposition to the man.

Leaving his parents would indicate that he was selfish, and even if he had plans to come back and get them, he was placing his escape above theirs.

How would he respond to the lack of his sister's presence in the building? Q was guessing that the hacker would plot his own escape, and justify it with the idea that he'd come back for them, even while knowing subconsciously that it would probably be impossible.

"Initiate Plan DC, effective immediately."

He watched on the screen as all the guards immediately started walking in a different pattern. One that would make it very simple to get to the west door, and extremely difficult to get to any other door, but looked like a simple oversight in security.

A slow grin curled his lips. He was about to start another game. A game that would end with Jace Wells on his side, as his pawn. Q stood up, and moved to the door.

"Keep me updated of any deviations to the plan."

With his fragrant drink held in one hand, he swept from the room, ready to intercept the young hacker.

* * *

**Jace Wells, S7 Bunker**

The young man rubbed his fingers together briefly, considering. Did he go for his parents, and get them out first? Or did he continue to look for 'Lex in the hope that he'd find her? His time was limited – he was unsure how much longer he'd have.

Or should he just run for it by himself? He'd get a lot farther, to be honest.

Yes. He'd run and then find a computer outside of here, hack back in and get them out. Or he'd alert someone – no, bad idea. These people said they were government. Chances were that they weren't, but if they _were_, that didn't bode well for telling anyone.

He'd figure it out; right now, he needed to plan his way out.

The closest entry was to the west of him. So he'd go for that one.

The young hacker set the cameras to loop in a pattern that should have him covered for the portion of time that he was in their vision, all the way to the exit. He watched the guards walking down the corridors for a few moments, mentally mapping out a route.

He'd have to make his move soon – either the guard would wake up soon, or someone would notice that he wasn't in his room.

He counted down seconds, and then nodded. It appeared that there was a small gap, perfect for him to take advantage of, and slip out.

The young man sped over to the guard and stripped him swiftly, thankful that they were relatively the same size. The shirt was a little too big in the shoulders, and the pants needed to be a bit smaller, but it would work. He thrust the pass into his pocket, and hurriedly straightened up. Time to be on the move.

He checked out the screen again, and nodded. All seemed to be ready. He closed the hacking screen down swiftly, with a few fast strokes on the keyboard.

* * *

**Q**

"He's on the move, sir. He's exited the computer and is in Hallway Three. He's switched clothing with the guard."

Oh, interesting. He adjusted his pace slightly, making sure that he didn't spill the drink.

* * *

**Jace Wells, S7 Bunker, Random Hallway**

He moved down the hall, heart pounding. He slipped down the white halls like a wraith, feet barely making any noise on the polished floors.

_A right here, then wait twenty seconds, and another right, then open the door with the pass._

Jace watched the guard walk by, and then darted past when the guard was gone, keeping the timing right in his head.

As he slipped around the last corner, he halted. The area to the door was completely black. He could see a little red light where the pass was supposed to swipe, so he moved there and did so. The card slipped through the black block with ease.

As the doors swung open, his heart started racing even harder, pounding harshly against his ribs as he noticed the man in the middle of the doors, standing, and one arm invisible in front of their chest.

Sunlight streamed in past their form, causing him to breathe in deeply, registering the fresh air.

He had been _so close…_

No. There was still hope. He could overpower one man, right?

"I wouldn't try it, Jace Wells," the man said lazily, and raised his hand to his lips – a cup?

Jace felt off-kilter. He couldn't bluff it out, the person knew he wasn't the guard – they knew his _name._

"How did you…" He trailed off, tongue feeling wooden in his mouth as disappointment crashed around him. "I'm not going back into that cell," he warned.

A slight chuckle. "So hostile, my, my."

"You've given me no reason to be nice," Jace commented, fist clenching tight. Maybe he could still…

"Really, a fist to the stomach is so _archaic _– I expected something more _clever_ from a government-level hacker, Jace." The man sounded so _disappointed_, like he had expected Jace to make it this far…

He squinted at the figure again, unsure what to say.

They were shrouded in the sunlight, making their features impossible to pick out in the darkness. He could smell something pleasant, like coffee. The man sighed, and then spoke in a professional tone.

"Jace Wells. I've had my eyes on you for some time now. And finally, you manage to hack your way out. Like I expected you to all along." The figure took a drink from the cup in his hand.

"Who are you?" he asked, cautious of the dark figure, cautious of what this could all _mean_.

"You may call me Q. I have a proposition for you."

* * *

AN: Gasp! Alex finally (finally…) figured out that Sideswipe was the one to blind her! How will she respond? What could Q want with Jace? Any and all reviews are greatly loved! Oh, and sorry that this was a day late, guys! I've been working like, 12 hours a day for the past week and a half...


	13. Ignosco

**Chapter 13: Ignosco**

(Latin: _to forgive, to overlook, to pardon_)

* * *

Holy crap, guys! Soooo many reviews - and all of them fantastic! Youve really blown my socks off! I'm going to need some cement shoes.

**Language: **::bond talk::, "normal talk",–comm talk– and Cybertronian in _italics._

**Warning: **Pretty sure this is her lowest point. She does contemplate suicide in here, but only contemplates. And maybe 2 bad-ish words. Damn and hell.

**Nods: **_Lunar Mist _had the idea of dream interference. So… I credit her for having that in here. Although, I'll probably have to credit her again later on in the story when I use it again for something… :)

Enjoy!

* * *

**Alex**

I knew I was dreaming.

In flashes, I could see tall, spindly towers that sparkled golden in the light, arching up; a sun that was much brighter than Earth's sun, throwing shards of light; pale, delicate crystal structures, twisting up into the sky and glittering brightly, reflecting light; brilliant red-gold spheres that appeared to be floating; paths of gleaming, burnished metal intersecting space between buildings. It was beautiful.

I felt longing, and a fond smile curled my lips.

I gasped awake, coughing and choking. My skin was damp, and I was breathing fast.

The room was quiet – the only thing I could hear, once in a while, was the ventilation system. I pulled myself out of the blankets, to sit on my bed, knees crunched up to my chest, arms wrapped around them tightly. My left shoulder was shaking and throbbing, muscles tightening frenetically. I tightened them, trying to halt the quaking.

My head was pounding, buzzing; in the back of my mind, I could hear the weird bond chatter. They hadn't been quiet once yet, chattering as I fell into a fitful sleep. Even now, they were talking. Sunstreaker wasn't talking as much, but I could feel his contentedness.

He was _happy_, happy that his twin was back with him.

The only reason I left the bond open was because I had promised Sideswipe that I would leave it open if he would get my family back.

Now though, now… I had felt their delight at being back together; the sense of rightness; of connectedness; of the sheer, utter oneness that they displayed. I wasn't sure if I could tear that apart, and the longer I was in contact with them, the less I felt like I wanted to.

I could feel a tiny, tiny disturbance to the edge though, like an extra flicker in the corner of your eye.

I couldn't trust them. Of course, I knew that. I couldn't trust the medical officer either. I knew that now as well. He had known that Sideswipe was the one to blind me, and he hadn't told me.

Well, maybe he hadn't known that I didn't know. I was so eager to believe the best of at least one of these creatures, to have some sense of normalcy in my life.

I swallowed deeply, wrapping my arms tighter about myself, clutching at any thread of mental calm I could manage. Breathing heavily, I tried to slow my heartbeat.

It hurt, more than I thought it would, to really, truly realize that I could not trust them. Even though I _knew_ it wouldn't change. Some part of me had hoped that I could trust them.

And yet the fact that Sideswipe hadn't told me that he was the one in that café so long ago, the one to spill energon on my eyes and face, hurt more than I thought it would. Which indicated that in some part of me, I had started to trust them, despite my desires not to.

Tugging my knees closer to my chest, I breathed out shakily, stomach roiling.

::Alex, what the frag is going on?:: Sideswipe sounded concerned and confused.

I probably sounded like an insane lunatic through the bond; voice quavering, mumbling the same words over and over; stomach clenching and throbbing; shoulder shaking.

::You lied.::

At this point, I wasn't sure if I was saying this towards Sideswipe, or Sunstreaker. Possibly both. Maybe even Ratchet, although he couldn't hear me through the bond.

Another jolt hit my stomach, making me queasy.

::_Primus_, that feels _weird_.:: There seemed to be a mental shudder. ::What are you talking about, Alex? Lying?::

::You know what I mean,:: I snapped at him, feeling my pulse pound in my shoulder and throb in my temples.

There was a slight pause, in which images and colours flashed in my mind as the two communicated, _just_ faster than I could understand.

The sense of Sunstreaker was stronger, like he was in the room with me.

Sideswipe spoke again. ::I didn't mean to hurt you.::

I didn't respond, but my thoughts were still hurt.

::Stop _broadcasting, _fragging human!:: Sunstreaker snapped, growling at me through the bond.

::-ou keep the bond open without broadcasting?:: Sideswipe questioned, the beginning of his question started before his twin was finished. My head throbbed.

I must have sent a puzzled feeling through the bond without meaning to.

::I said, _can_ you keep the bond open without broadcasting? You haven't managed to yet.:: Sideswipe sounded inquisitive.

Had they been able to feel my entire thought process?

::Yes,:: Sunstreaker said lowly, almost as if he hadn't meant to.

Almost without meaning to, I slammed it shut. The level of cool hatred present in his thoughts was staggering. He really would kill me without even thinking twice. Truly, in all actuality it was Sideswipe keeping me alive.

But if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be in this mess to start with.

I wasn't sure which one was worse.

It was like something tapped in my head.

::Alex, you promised.:: Sideswipe's voice was a curious mix, like he couldn't quite decide whether to whine or was honestly appealing to me.

::You _promised_.::

I sighed, feeling my breath warm against my knees. I opened the bond a little bit, and spoke, trying to keep my mental words short and clear.

::That was before I figured out you-::

::What? Lied to you? Alex, I never lied. Granted, I didn't tell you the whole truth, but I didn't lie.::

I felt betrayed. A small part of me felt like running and hiding, or slamming the bond closed. But I had promised. And I didn't break my promises.

::I can't trust you.::

::Alex – I'm sorry.::

I ignored him. But I left the bond open.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

::We need to talk,:: Sideswipe interjected into my mind.

I dropped the dinner tray in shock at his overly serious tone. I felt something spatter my legs, and immediately moved out of the cafeteria. Conversation had ceased for a moment, but then resumed quickly. I didn't like being in the cafeteria – it was loud and noisy, and I could never tell where an empty seat was.

::Sideswipe? We just talked!::

I could feel his disregard for that. ::That was almost three days ago. Sunny and I-::

::Don't call me that!:: Sunstreaker interjected.

::-want to talk about your fear of us.::

I almost choked at his words, and I tried to get him to change the subject. ::This is really heavy conversation for lunch,:: I muttered, sneaking out of the cafeteria. I wanted to be somewhere safe, especially if I couldn't dissuade him from talking about this. ::Besides, I'm not going to do that. I promise.::

::Nevertheless, we need to talk.::

I moved into a small space that was close by, curling up into a ball. As pathetic as this would have looked, I didn't care.

::Okay, what is it? Make it quick.:: What else was there to talk about?

Sunstreaker snapped at me. ::Watch it, human.::

A thrill of fear washed through me, but I tamped it down. He couldn't hurt me here, and he had never mentally hurt me. I wasn't sure if that was because he didn't want to accidentally kill me, or if he was waiting to savor it.

::Alex. The bond is not meant for one of its members to fear the others. Your fear and distrust is… corrupting the bond.::

::But I'm not even a part of the bond, not really. How am I affecting it?::

::Ratchet informed us that you are acting as a conduit of sorts.::

::He told you this?:: I asked, wondering why he had told the twins and not me.

Sideswipe felt sheepish. ::No, not really. I…uh…stole his datapad…::

Sunstreaker snorted. ::Idiot.::

For once, I agreed with Sunstreaker. Ratchet was going to weld his head to his foot.

::You're a dead robot, Sideswipe.::

He brushed off my comment, and continued. ::So, if a conduit is warped, it takes a lot longer than it should for the bond to work. And it's messing with our sparks.::

::Spark?::

An image of a radiant white ball of energy appeared in my head. ::That is a spark. It's like a heart, for you – but also a metaphorical heart.::

::Okay…::

::Since you fear us, it is making our sparks all funky. Hatchet scanned us, and that's what he came up with.::

::I don't really think you can blame me for that,:: I said quietly in my mind.

::No.:: He sounded resigned. ::It would be nice if you weren't terrified of us though.::

::Sideswipe. I was kidnapped, and tortured. And you want me to trust you? How selfish.::

::I know, but I can't help it. I want it to be like it was. Not this fear-filled approximation.:: He sounded desperate.

::I'm sorry, Sideswipe, but I just can't trust you two. Not yet. Maybe not ever.::

::I understand. However, if you could try, for us…::

::I have no interest in helping you, apart from getting my family back. I just want to have them back.::

::And I want to get them back. But my bond with Sunstreaker is much like your bond with your family.:: I didn't correct him – his bond with his homicidal twin was more than slightly different than the bond I had with my family.

He continued. ::If you were restored with your family, but the feelings were… wrong, you would want what you had before, right?::

I had no answer.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

I was running through the woods in the dark. All around, I could hear the crash of heavy machinery, the bolts of weapons. Flashes of blue and white could be seen from the weapons, and I could smell lightning – the stench of burned ozone was heavy in the air.

Gasping heavily, I wiped my forehead, hand coming away wet with sweat.

A tree smacked me in the face, but I barely faltered, racing headlong through the bushes and trees, desperate to escape.

_They_ were coming, coming fast. I could _feel_ them, almost here now.

I kept on running, wondering if I should stop and hide behind a tree, but then _they_ would find me. Two monsters. Twin monsters. Cloaked in yellow and silver, gleaming brightly. It was only a matter of time. I knew they were coming, I could feel them, with every beat of my heart.

And once they were done with me, there would be nothing left.

Taking in another gasp of air, I bolted forwards again, unable to see, unable to know where I was going.

Stinging pain from my forehead surprised me; I had been working off too much adrenaline to notice before.

My legs throbbed, the muscles protesting the continuous use as I sprinted through the black forest, lungs gasping for more air. There was a loud crash from right behind me, and a small choking gasp escaped my lips as I plunged forwards, knees and palms scraping against the rocky ground.

Something gripped me around the middle, lifting me into the air.

A scream escaped my lips.

"No, let me go! I haven't done anything!"

::Calm down, Alex, it's just me and Sunny.:: A wave of calm washed over me, and suddenly I felt fine. Like I was floating.

::Don't call me that, fragging glitch!:: I saw a pair of pale, pale blue eyes, gleaming from the shadows, moving in for the kill.

I woke with a gasp. My skin was damp, and I was breathing hard.

The bed was shaking. I placed a hand on the wall, wondering if it was just me. The wall was shivering too.

::I know you can feel me; come out and we'll talk,:: Sideswipe cajoled.

I shook my head, sliding out of the bed and on to the cool floor, wrapping my arms around my knees tightly. My safety pose.

::If you don't come out, I'll rip this wall out.::

::We can talk just fine like this,:: I mumbled into the bond, knowing that he'd understand what I meant. I was not going anywhere with him. Besides, it sounded like he could see me. Did that mean my room had a window?

::Yep.:: He sent me an image; a flash of a dark wall with a figure curled up through a window.

I barely recognized myself – the image was very strange. It was filled with red and purple at my core, with odd colourations ranging to yellow at my fingers. Purple and blue oddly filled the image too.

Infrared mixed with ultraviolet?

Weird.

Although it did make sense that they could see in different spectrums – all their medic had to do was swap out their old eyes and start them up, or something like that.

::It's a little more complicated than that, I think… Ol' Hatchet complains about it enough…::

::Get to the fragging point, half-bit,:: Sunstreaker snapped.

::Oh, Sunny, you'll still look the same if you don't get your beauty recharge, you vain fragger.::

::Mute it, slagger.::

I tried to ignore them, but it was impossible. My heart was still pounding heavily, but other than that, I had nothing to focus on.

Nothing. It seemed to be the story of my life.

::Sideswipe, get the organic to mute it; every fragging thought is depressed. I don't know if you're worth it – I might just offline the thing.::

I swallowed, trying to ignore his words.

It was hard; to hear cool dispassion about someone that you wanted to kill. More so since it was me. But really, it wouldn't affect that many people. My family. Liam. And that was about it.

There was a silence from the other two in my head. A shocked, quiet sort of I-don't-know-what-to-say kind of quiet.

I was sure Ratchet could figure out some way to fix their bond. It seemed wrong to wish something that perfect, that _right_ to not exist.

I tucked my arms tighter, feeling my heartbeat in my stomach. The floor was cold even through my socks. I hadn't taken my clothes off for longer than it took to shower, and then I was immediately pulling on my clothes. Just in case.

Then the roof exploded, a few crumbles of concrete landing on my shoulders. I sucked in a shocked breath and felt fingers grip me around the stomach and chest, lifting me up and out. My legs dangled in the air, and I felt exposed, like I might fall to pieces if I didn't keep all my parts contained.

Sideswipe's words came through the bond, nearly making me cry with the intensity.

::How can you even _think_ that?! You idiot!::

The metal hand around me tightened.

Sunstreaker spoke, voice cold. ::Pathetic.::

He was right. I was pathetic.

I felt a smack through the bond; my head rang from the force of it.

::You idiot, not helping!:: Sideswipe snapped.

Sunstreaker growled lowly at his twin – I could hear his feet crunching on the gravel.

I was still in Sideswipe's hand, held like a ragdoll by a child.

My head reeled.

Sideswipe continued. ::The idea that you find yourself worthless is ridiculous!::

::But I'm useless, I can't do anything!:: I rebutted, hating him and myself. I wanted them to leave me _alone_.

::We will, once Hatchet fixes the bond,:: Sunstreaker growled out.

::You have a purpose, Alex!::

What if that purpose was already being fulfilled? What if all I was meant to do in life was be a connection between two aliens? What happened after that, when I went back to being a blind, pathetic human whose family was gone?

::I promised you that I'd get your family back, Alex; I don't go back on promises.:: His voice was dark and dangerous.

::Bu-::

::No buts. I promise you, I will help you, to the best of my ability. Even if you don't want me to. I promise.::

Even if he said that, I couldn't trust them.

Sideswipe's hand flinched. ::Alex…::

::Put the squishy on the ground, Sideswipe.:: The other twin's voice was dangerous, lethal and cold.

Sideswipe hesitated. Even I wasn't sure if I wanted to, although I did want Sideswipe to put me back in my room. What if Sunstreaker killed me?

::Put it down, Sideswipe.::

A shiver raced down my spine at his lethal tone. There was no 'what if' in his voice; he was going to kill me.

::Sunny…::

::Don't call me that.:: His voice was flat.

I felt the fingers around me flex a little bit, and then lower. Fear shot through me, and riotous colours bloomed in my eyes. I could hear my heart beat in my ears.

The world blurred into colour around me. Sunstreaker wasn't even facing me, but I knew that he could whirl around in less than a nanosecond and slice me into pieces. If he wanted to get his blade dirty. The sky was very blue.

I noticed the red-black hand wrapped around me; the grainy texture of the gravel.

If I bolted when my feet hit the ground, how far would I get before he sliced me in half? And if I did make it out a little ways, he could blow me apart with a single bolt from his weapon.

"As if I would waste time on something so pathetic," he growled. The ground shook under my feet, or perhaps that was just my shaking.

Yup. I was pathetic. They were just discovering this?

Perhaps this was why I had no friends in high school. They all figured out what a loser I was.

My family was gone; maybe dead. I'd never see them again. No one would miss me if I was gone.

The ground shook underneath me. My vision jumped; the pebbles around me dancing.

"You're an idiot!" Sideswipe growled. "You think I would have spent my time checking up on something useless?"

"I am though; I can't do anything – hell, I can't even help my family!"

"Alex – listen to me carefully. Offlining yourself isn't helpful in the slightest. Even if you wanted to, I _will_ _not_ let you. Want to know why? Because you are important to me. And Sunstreaker, even if he doesn't say so." He sounded so serious – it was sort of strange.

There was a smack of metal on metal. "Idiot," Sunstreaker hissed. ::As if.::

I tried to speak, but he cut me off. "Bu-"

"You are important to me, and not just because of your role in the bond. You are a friend, Alex. And I will help you. I promise you, with all my spark." There was an odd note of formality in the words, and a strange sense in the air around us.

"I will not let you deactivate yourself – it's selfish and not like you."

::How would you know?:: I asked, feeling a mix of happiness and annoyance. Presuming to know me – he only knew a little bit about me. Happiness because he really meant it. My vision faded, flickering into flashes of red and white.

::True. But I want to learn more – I like you, Alex. You've become a friend of mine, and I protect my friends. Even from themselves.:: His last words were slightly darker in tone.

My mind flashed to his homicidal twin. He probably did have experience in protecting.

Sideswipe felt serious. He'd fight for me, against myself. A flash of red and yellow in my eyes.

::Selfish organic.:: Sunstreaker growled lowly.

I knew what he meant, instantly. I needed someone else to fight my own battles, against myself. I felt my face grow hot, and a tear slip down my cheek.

There was another smack, this time from Sideswipe to Sunstreaker. ::Not helping, slagger,:: he growled.

"Alex. You are strong, but even strong 'bot-er, people need help sometimes. I am giving you this help, whether you want it or not. You are helping us; this is the least I can do."

I choked out a sob, feeling his sincerity through the bond. He really meant it.

I curled up on the ground, wrapping my arms tight around my knees tightly. Wiping my eyes with one hand, I breathed in a shuddering breath of warm air. The flashes of colour and light faded into blackness.

"Was it necessary to rip my wall out?"

I felt the equivalent of a shrug through the bond from Sideswipe. "Only way I could make sure that you wouldn't lock us out."

Hugged tight into my knees, I spoke quietly. "Sideswipe… Thank you." The last words were so quiet that they might have been a whisper.

In the bond, I felt Sideswipe's sudden mental tensing.

"Prime's back. He wants to meet you."

He grabbed me in one hand, but I wasn't startled. He had flashed his intentions into the bond right before he did it, and I had understood in that same flash.

It felt sort of good.

It wasn't like I trusted him again, or anything like that. But I was okay with him now. Mostly.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

My stomach was rumbling; the floor quaking beneath my feet. The roar of an engine was coming towards me, and from the sound of it, it was a large vehicle. The crunch of tires on gravel halted about a dozen feet away, along with the down-shift sound of a heavy vehicle. A thin blast of warm air crossed my face.

The breeze was warm and my back felt hot.

Sideswipe and his twin were behind me; I wasn't sure if I wanted them there or not. Part of me was secure in the knowledge that they'd back me up, proved by the calm presence of Sideswipe in my head. Sunstreaker behind me just made me nervous though.

Another part of me wanted them out, permanently. I wanted my head to be _mine_ again.

The smallest part of me was grateful; I squished that part quickly, throwing it out of my head.

There was a whirring, clicking sound that was very familiar – I heard it all the time when Sideswipe and Sunstreaker transformed.

"I am Optimus Prime. It is good to meet you, formally."

His voice was strong and deep, exuding authority. I felt my back straighten, and my voice come out more formally.

"I'm Alexandra Wells." And I was blinded by your crazy alien warrior guy by the name of Sideswipe. Then his twin showed up after I was taken by humans and cut open. After that, I was dumped in a police station and then taken back to this base to meet your abusive medical officer. Nice to meet you too.

::Dare you to say that out loud,:: Sideswipe muttered. ::'Specially to the Hatchet himself – he'd wrench you for sure. Squishy organic or not.::

He was still in his car mode, as was Sunstreaker.

I took a small step backwards, fingers clenched behind my back tightly. My heart was pounding again. I was unsure why, because I'd suffered worse before.

"Let us go inside to continue this discussion," Optimus Prime said. His voice was intimidating; I felt awed.

Briefly, I wondered why we were going inside – it was nice out. The sun was shining, and a little, light breeze was blowing.

::So that the Decepticons can't hear what we say,:: Sideswipe muttered in my head.

I had been carried out here by Sideswipe (unwillingly), so I only had a vague idea where the door was.

When he brought me out here, I had felt the sun on my left. So if I walked back with it on the right side of my face, I should be going the right way.

The car behind me rolled up beside me, but I sent a quick denial through the bond. I could reach the door on my own. Probably. Well, maybe I could make it back to the hole in the wall that Sideswipe had ripped. I might need a different place to sleep tonight.

I hiked back the other way, sun hot on my right side. My face felt weird.

After a few minutes, I slowed, unsure. There was noise from behind me; faint, but still discernible. Especially to my ears, sensitive as they were.

Sideswipe (and Sunstreaker) were following me.

I slowed more, dithering over asking for help. But the only ones who were around to ask… yeah. I'd be fine. Eventually, I'd find my way.

Nevada wasn't that big, right? Yeah, I'd be fine. I didn't need any help.

The sound of two engines accelerating filled my head.

They moved off to the left of me, engines growling. I followed, angling slightly to the left to reach the right place.

I'd have smashed face-first into a wall if it wasn't for a quick mental picture of myself, missing the door by a wide margin. They'd (Sideswipe) ended up helping me, guiding me to the right place with quick pictures in my head.

I moved through the open hangar door, immediately noticing the difference in sound. The robot's feet clattered heavily on the concrete floor, echoing against the walls.

I could feel Sunstreaker glaring at my back again; probably plotting how to kill me. Or he was annoyed that I had taken some of his twin's attention.

The deep voice rumbled in my ears again. "Sideswipe and Sunstreaker tell me that you have a bond with them."

I nodded quickly, swallowing.

Sideswipe spoke up. "Not really sure how it happened, Prime."

Sunstreaker was silent; but it wasn't like I had expected anything different.

I spat out the agreement I had with the twins. "Once they get my family back, and Ratchet fixes the bond, I'm leaving."

One of the twins huffed out his agreement. No surprise in guessing which one it was.

"Sunstreaker. I am relieved to see you back at base, and in working order." Optimus Prime had such an interesting voice – did he use contractions?

"Yeah, fragging glitch was late though!" Sideswipe snipped at his brother, and I felt the smack to Sideswipe through the bond.

"Ms. Wells, you will stay until the bond is fixed?"

I nodded. Part of me wanted to ask him to call me Alex, and another part was snickering at the idea of an alien leader calling me by my first name. It was the type of thing that would have had Jace in fanboy goo on the floor – especially if he knew that they transformed into vehicles.

I tried to speak more formally too – Optimus Prime just seemed to inspire awe in individuals.

Sideswipe laughed at me. ::After a while, the allure wears off.::

::I hope to be back home by then,:: I reminded him, subtly (or not) hinting at getting my family back.

::Yes.::

"Prime, I promised Alex that I would rescue her family in exchange for her staying here until Hatchet figures out what happened with the bond, and why she is in it." Woah. Sideswipe sounded almost… official. It was giving me the creeps. I rubbed my arms, trying to rub away the goose bumps. My arms were wrapped across my torso protectively.

Optimus Prime spoke again. "Ms. Wells, I can say on behalf of the Autobots that we are very grateful for your help. If not for us, you would have had a much different life."

A curl of resentment bloomed in my chest. "I didn't do it for you," I mumbled, eyes downcast even though I couldn't see anything.

"Of course; I am sorry for implicating such. Your devotion to your family is admirable." Political – of course, he'd have to be. I bet he was good at dealing with the human politicians.

"I love them. More than anything." The back of my throat felt funny, and my eyes were hot. The last thing I needed was to break down in tears, but I was close to that. Clenching my jaw, I swallowed heavily.

::I know you don't trust us at all, but believe me when I say I _will_ get your family back.:: Sideswipe sounded earnest and serious – a change from the usual.

"If they promised to do so, then we shall honour that promise."

I nodded. "Thank you," I breathed, feeling a hot stream down my cheek. Suddenly, I could believe that they would do it. They would get my family back.

And then this nightmare would be over and done with.

I could go home.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

I'd been avoiding the twins again after the last three talks in which I had mostly come to grips with my life again. Sideswipe wouldn't have accepted any different – he'd been watching my thoughts over the past few days. I hadn't been accosted by them for at least two days – or, at least two sleeps. My family was still out there – they were most likely in danger and nothing had been done. Sideswipe reassured me that once they found my family, they'd make a mission of getting them back.

Now, I had escaped to the med-bay, finding my way with the help of Jolt, who was apparently Ratchet's assistant or something like that. He'd just walked along, making enough noise that I could follow him. So, he might not have meant for me to follow him, but it wasn't like he could stop me.

Once in the med-bay, I could hear that Ratchet was definitely in here – perhaps that would stop Sideswipe from coming after me. He didn't seem to like it in the med-bay. Perhaps he didn't like getting beaten in the head all the time.

Ratchet sounded like he was working on something in the corner – from the other voices, it was ones I hadn't met yet. And from the clanging, they were getting a lot of wrench dents.

"You fragging idiots! What made you think jumping off buildings would help in _any _way?"

"Awh, Ratchet, we was jus' tryin' out Jet Judo!" What an odd way of talking they had.

Another voice joined in vehemently. "Yeah, them other twins are pros!"

There was a loud smash of metal on metal. "I already have one set of morons who persist in that fragged up past time; I do _not_ need another set!"

"That hurt, man!"

"You idiots don't seem to learn any other way!" There was a massive crash, and two voices crying out.

I slipped backwards, feeling a metal pole and placing myself behind it. Crouching down to the floor, I sat on my bum and wrapped my arms around my knees. My fingers were cold. I tucked them behind my knees to keep them warm.

Faintly, I wondered what Jet Judo was. It sounded interesting.

Sideswipe intruded into my mind, reminding me of a dog coming through a door; plowing in whether the hole was large enough or not. ::Jet Judo?::

I shoved at him, trying to push him out of my mind. Sideswipe had no concept of mental space, but that might be because it wasn't something commonly thought about. Most people didn't have to share their head with someone else. Much less two other someones.

He retreated, but I could faintly hear their bond chatter about this… Jet Judo. It seemed to involve planes, and flying. With a jet pack?

::You have a jet pack?:: I asked Sideswipe, almost without meaning to.

::Not right now – but when Wheeljack gets here, I'm getting him to make me another one.::

Sunstreaker snorted. ::You have a glitch. You want to blow up?::

I felt my lips quirk into a tiny smile. Whoever this Wheeljack was, he sounded dangerous. Maybe to himself too – exploding jet packs?

My mind drifted to the time that Jace had blown up a rocket in the backyard. He had singed his eyebrows, and ruined a shirt. I'd only been ten.

Damn it, I missed my family. An ache in my chest made me curl up tighter. I had done all I could for them, and now could only trust that Optimus Prime would keep his word. And that Sideswipe would as well. Hopefully, Sunstreaker would help, if only to get me out faster.

The ache deepened, to the point where my stomach felt like knots were curled up tightly.

Sideswipe's words – how his bond was different – bolted through my mind again.

I thought about it.

The bond seemed stable; healthy. It felt right.

But Sideswipe was telling me that it wasn't quite right. I could feel it too, now that I thought about it. A slightly strange feeling to the edges of the bond.

Was that because I didn't trust them? Not like they trusted each other, to be sure. I could sort of see how that might affect it.

::Has it been better?:: I asked Sideswipe.

He seemed to be in the middle of something – his voice was distracted, and weird flashes of colour were in my eyes. ::Hmm? Oh, yeah, it has.::

::Good.:: I retreated from his mind, feeling slightly better about myself. The more I trusted them, the more their bond meshed. Like a tube that was too long and narrow becoming more short and wide.

That sounded like a dangerous mix. The more I trusted them, the more connected they were? That could be lethal – for me. What if Sunstreaker went all 'torture Alex' again? I'd die, and probably never trust anyone again.

Sideswipe was one thing, but Sunstreaker was another thing entirely. He was dangerous. I would be completely insane to trust _him_, of all peop- robots.

Clenching a fist tightly, I breathed out. I could feel Sideswipe at the edge of my mind, listening quietly but not intruding. Good. I wanted to think to myself, and not be interrupted.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

I was hiding from the twins again, like I had been for the past two weeks. It was extremely difficult when they could read my mind, but it appeared that they couldn't find me if I was in a small, quiet space.

My family hadn't been located yet, but Ratchet assured me that it wasn't for lack of trying. Over the past two weeks, I had become much closer to the medic, spending a lot of my time in his med-bay, listening to the crabby robot bash his patients in their heads. When no one was in the room, other than me, he was working on something else, muttering to himself. Clanking and metal scraping had been heard too.

Sometimes, I could feel the twins looking for me.

Not that Sunstreaker was looking – it was just Sideswipe.

I stayed in the dark space for hours, arms wrapped tight around my knees.

I felt a slight pain over my body; a light tingle. A scan. There was a bang on the metal above me.

"Alex, come out."

Ratchet.

"Why?"

"My peripheral scan shows that you need nourishment."

"I'm fine, Ratchet."

There was another bang. "You need more nourishment; you are showing inadequate fat supplies. When was your last menstrual cycle? I haven't noticed one, and your last scan w-"

"Fine! Fine, I'll come out to eat," I said, nearly frantic. The last thing I needed was for the robot alien medical officer to detail my period (or lack of one). I hadn't had one in several months, from the stress I had been under, and even before, it had been easily altered.

Geez.

I moved sideways, feeling with my hand for the roof. I carefully placed my feet, trying to remember this location for later.

Granted, if Sideswipe was really persistent, he'd find me, through scanning for my specific biometrics, but he seemed pretty distracted still, and he appeared to not enjoy being in the med-bay. Possibly due to the abuse the medic dished out like a particularly delicious treat. Maybe Ratchet got off on it.

I'd take it. I didn't want Sideswipe near me.

Ratchet let me climb all the way out, not helping at all. I could almost hear his doctor processing: mobility, muscle tone, weakness, skin colour, lung function. The sneaky fragger was probably reading my heart rate too.

I stilled, spine chilling. Had I just used their words? Yes. I had.

That was weird, but sort of expected. After all, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker used the words all the time, and they were always in my mind.

I wasn't sure if I liked it or not for a moment. Then, I knew exactly how I felt about that. I didn't like it, at all.

As I moved down the hall, Ratchet tailing me, I could just _tell_ that he was _itching_ to grill me about my health. Doctor through and through. "Ratchet, what exactly does 'fragger' mean?"

There was a slight stutter, a scrape of metal on the concrete, and then Ratchet's dark voice.

"I'm going to deactivate them."

As much as the idea of Ratchet beating the brains out of the two idiots appealed to me, I had to come clean.

"I probably did hear it first from them, but I heard it from you too."

There was some grumbling.

"So? What does it mean?" I turned left, smelling the faintest trace of hamburger. Ratchet's heavy feet followed.

"I'm going to deactivate them."

"Not stopping you," I muttered quietly.

The footsteps faltered. "Alex… How long have you been able to understand Cybertronian? Or speak it, for that matter."

I snorted.

"I can't."

"Alex, I'm speaking Cybertronian now. As was my previous sentence to you."

My legs slowed. "You're not pulling my chain?"

"You have no- Oh, no, I am not."

"Am I speaking English right now?" Curiosity soared through me.

"Yes, you are."

I was more relieved than I thought I would be. It was one thing to know that I was able to understand the alien chatter, and quite another to speak it.

"When did this happen?" The medical officer's voice was curious.

I didn't want to get into a massive medical discussion about what a freak I was. Time for a change in subject.

"Oh, here's the cafeteria – I'll talk to you later."

"Yes, you will." The medic's tone of voice let me know that he knew exactly what I had done. But I didn't care – I was too emotionally drained to hear more about how I was a freak.

I slipped into the cafeteria, hand trailing against the wall to find my way. I could hear Ratchet leaving. What a nice robot – making sure I went to eat. There was low chatter, making me think that there wasn't very many people in the room. I avoided a garbage can, and gripped a tray, knowing where they should be.

So I could understand Cyber-whatever? How long had that been going on?

::Oh, a while now. I mean, since you understood Sunny here, because he hasn't spoken English once.::

::What?:: I asked, shocked.

::Sunny's a picky fragger. He hasn't downloaded any of Earth's languages. Probably never will, unless Prime makes him.::

::But… He can understand English, right?::

There was a pause. ::No. He doesn't know any English at all.::

::Then how am I communicating with him?::

Sideswipe paused again. ::Alex, you've been speaking Cybertronian to us this whole time – you've been speaking in is as we talk.::

::Seriously?:: was all I could come up with. But really, he tells me that I've been speaking a different language that I have no knowledge of. Insane. I was going insane. Yup.

::You didn't know? Cool.::

::Weird, you mean.:: It was crazy.

::It is pretty crazy, huh? Good thing you can understand Sunny though. I wonder if Ratchet has any ideas why.::

::I dunno.::

::Are you alright?:: Sideswipe inquired.

:;Yes.::

He was hesitant, but it was almost like I could see what he wanted to say.

::We can make this work. For the time that we have left,:: I said slowly, thinking it through as I said it.

::You mean it?:: Sideswipe was excited and hesitant. He knew what I meant.

I took a moment to think it over.

::I will try. I promise.:: My voice rang through the bond.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Optimus Prime spoke, voice ringing in the metal hangar.

"Ms. Wells, you will be escorting us to Diego Garcia, where you will meet the rest of the Autobots."

"Why?" I asked, only realizing my outburst after I said it.

::Nice, Alex. Interrupt the leader of the Autobots.::

::Shut it, you. I'm trying to listen to your leader,:: I said, snapping at the snickering robot.

"Because you show up on scanners as a mix of organic, and Cybertronian. The Decepticons would be drawn to you almost instantly," Ratchet said. I recognized his gruff tones.

Fantastic. "Where is… Diego Garcia?"

Sideswipe spoke, a teasing tone in his voice. "That's a secret."

"I hate you," I groaned out. There was no real heat in my voice, and through the bond, I felt his smirk. He knew.

Somehow, I didn't actually mean that. I was okay with him.

Sunstreaker sent a sensation that felt like an eyeroll through the bond, directed at his twin.

Sunstreaker though… that could take a little more time. I felt his flare of annoyance through the bond. Yeah, we might never be alright. But that was okay, because I wasn't going to be here for much longer.


	14. Quietus

**Chapter 14: Quietus **

(Latin: _something that serves to suppress, check, or eliminate; release from life; a final discharge, as of a duty or debt_)

* * *

**AN**: Short and sweet (ehehehe) and necessary. Sorry, guys – next one'll be longer.

I've gotten lots of reviewers wondering when/if Sideswipe knows about her torture. And if Ratchet knows. Don't worry – I have it all planned out, and some stuff is happening within the next… 5? chapters. Sunstreaker _will_ be getting his. For sure. In... not all that long. Until then, rest assured I have it under control.

–shifty eyes– You guys actually believe I have this group of trouble-makers under control, right? How gullible are you guys?

Haa… just kidding (mostly…) Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

**Terms: **NoBEL-one – Sunstreaker

* * *

**Jace**

The man in front of the light lifted something to his lips. Jace squinted in the harsh light, smelling the coffee. Or was he hallucinating the coffee smell?

No, he wasn't.

"Well? Will you listen to my proposition, Jace Wells?"

He stepped forwards one step, hand still clenched. "What is this proposition of yours, _Q_?" he sneered, nearly gaping at this overly dramatic man.

What started out as a clenched fist tightened dramatically when the man chuckled again. If he tightened his fist much more, his nails were going to cut into his skin.

The tall man swirled his cup in one hand, other hand in his pocket. He looked relaxed and lazy.

"When you hacked into the government's files, you found Mission City data – images, videos, and sound-bytes. Along with fan websites, removed content from YouTube, and conspiracy pages. But where did this idea of car-turning-robot conspiracy idea stem from?"

Jace's eyes flared wide then narrowed drastically. He stayed silent.

The man took a step forwards. "Alexandra Wells. Your younger sister."

Jace's eyes narrowed into thin slits, fists coming up, still tightly clenched. "What did you do with my family, you bastard?"

A lazy hand was waved, coffee still in grip. "Oh, nothing too awful. The usual."

Then Q moved, only a few steps, but to Jace's light-blinded eyes, he disappeared.

"Right this way, Jace."

Pretentious bastard. Flashy, showy tricks. Pointless. Jace blew out a breath, and grit his teeth. This was probably not going to end well.

Why had he just done computer hacking and not taken any physical courses? Then again, he could just pop this Q one in the face if he got too annoying. And then he'd end up back in the cell, with less chance of escaping and helping his family.

He followed after a moment, squinting in the sudden light hitting his eyes. His dislike for this guy was creeping up, making him cautiously move into the room. Q _had_ imprisoned him for however long, and had had his family taken as well.

"Please, sit."

Q was already sitting in one of the soft leather chairs around a small coffee table. There was a stack of brown manila envelopes on the table, and the walls were pale blue with dark wood accenting. Q looked relaxed and calm, the epitome of cool and collected. The dark haired man sipped his coffee, and then gestured with the cup to the other chair.

He got his first good look at the other man. Tall, slim and pale. Dark hair. Old eyes; eyes that hinted at madness and brilliance in equal volumes. He looked vaguely familiar, but in a generic good-looking guy sort of way. He didn't know where he'd seen the man before, but he couldn't shake the nagging feeling he _knew_ him.

Jace moved and sat down carefully, like the chair would rise up with leather shackles and metal cuffs and trap him down. It was soft.

"Get to the point," he growled out, fingers tight.

Q blithely ignored him, taking a sip from his coffee. "Your sister. Involved in an incident a year and four months ago in which she was permanently scarred, and blinded."

Jace stood up. "Put me bac-"

"And now she's been kidnapped by those self-same aliens and is currently being tortured and held hostage by them."

He was instantly silenced; listening intently. The young hacker sat back down.

"Tortured?" His voice broke half-way through.

Q nodded once, eyes intent on his own.

"What's your proposition?" Jace questioned. 'Lex was being tortured and held as a hostage? When had this happened? Why did they want her?

"My men got the information only hours before the planned raid on your house. We barely managed to get your family out before _this_ happened."

He slipped an envelope that had been sitting on the coffee table over to Jace, who took it slowly. The computer hacker flipped it open and pulled out a sheaf of glossy eight by eleven photos. His face tightened and his eyes narrowed at the pictures. Some were taken above the house, detailing a silver Corvette waiting at the curb. Twelve other photos were of the same car, with different dates. Each about a month later. The same silver Corvette was sitting outside the house.

He had seen that silver Corvette in later government data.

Glancing at the next photo, he sharpened his gaze. A black GMC Topkick truck – the next was of a black alien, eyes gleaming bright blue.

Q leaned back in his chair, coffee cup curled in both hands. Jace flipped through the photos swiftly - he'd seen them all before in his hacking.

Jace laid the photos out on the table quickly, inspecting the next one. An alien robot with red eyes. A red and blue Peterbilt. An oddly painted jet. An Audi R8, silver paint gleaming in the light. The Peterbilt, mid-transformation, in a hangar bay somewhere, with military men around it.

A small alien, pincers deep into a human. He shuddered, and looked at the next one swiftly.

A smoking pod in the ground, with the next photo of a brilliant yellow Lamborghini. He whistled through his teeth when he saw that one – damn, the aliens came in fancy cars. This was the first he'd seen of a yellow Lambo.

He looked up at Q, hands still splayed on the photos. These looked really precise for photoshopping, and his gut was telling him that these photos were real.

"I've seen all these – you have anything new for me?"

Q quirked an eyebrow. "_All_ of them?"

Jace stared him down. "All except the yellow Lamborghini and the pod. They happened too recently."

"I expected nothing less from you, Jace Wells."

"Yeah, yeah. Where is she?"

Q set his coffee cup down; the exotic smell of ground beans wafting in the air between them.

"My men have been working to triangulate her position, but is almost impossible. This is where you come in."

Q steepled his fingers. "I need you on my team, Jace Wells."

Jace leaned backwards, arms crossed across his chest.

The thin man continued. "From what I can tell, one of them – most probably, the yellow Lamborghini and the silver Corvette – have an interest in your sister, and have taken steps to detain her. We managed to remove the rest of your family, but the yellow Lamborghini – we call it NoBEL-one – made it into our facility and took your sister."

He slipped another envelope across the table. "Be warned – these photos are a bit more…gruesome."

Jace nodded, and opened the envelope, pulling out another thick sheaf of photos. Immediately, his stomach churned.

Alex, eyes closed and purple-tinted blood streaked down her face. Her eye was swollen and purplish-blue. Her shirt was gone, but that wasn't the part that had Jace fixated. The yellow robot alien had her clenched in its fist, other fist blasting bolts of blue. A snarl was fixated on its face, and it's eyes gleamed a demonic blue. Scientists were coated in red blood, liberally smeared. Some were flung against the wall, and draped carelessly at the base of the wall like broken dolls. One man was bent literally in half; his knees were touching the back of his head. The other photos were more of the same, indicating that it wasn't photoshopped. Not so many shots detailing the same thing, with the same robot, transforming into a Lamborghini and roaring off with his sister, lying in the front seat. Blood liberally streaked the windows in grotesque patterns.

Jace swallowed. This alien had his sister?

"Why did they want 'Lex?" he asked, not looking at the photos.

Q shrugged ever so slightly, before leaning forwards again, folding his fingers under his chin. "What my tech team and research teams have been able to decipher is that they want her because of an odd energy she has been broadcasting. We were barely able to intercept your family before, but we failed in regards to your sister.

"I want your help in taking down these monsters. She isn't the only person they've done this to – we _need_ you. You're one of the most talented I've seen at hacking."

Jace glanced down at the photos again and felt his stomach roil. They'd do this for an energy signal?

"Why have I been kept in a cell then?" Jace questioned, leaning forwards and eyeing Q.

The thin man shrugged, arms laid out on the rests of the chair. "I needed to make sure that you were the right type of person for my organization."

An eyebrow was raised by Jace.

"I was kept in a locked room, and guarded, for two weeks because you wanted to test me? Seems rather extreme."

"These are an extreme threat. I need to make sure I can rely on the people in my teams."

"And my family? How have they been treated?"

Q smiled, a smile filled with cunning and frightening in its benign appearance. "See for yourself."

He swivelled the chair around, and stood up.

Jace stood up, and followed the slender man out of the room, and down a different hall. Q opened a door, and motioned Jace in.

He walked in, almost expecting the door to slam shut behind him, trapping him inside. The door didn't shut. His mother leapt up, beaming at him.

"Jace!"

The hacker grinned at his mom, giving her a massive hug. "You're okay!"

She laughed. "Of course, thanks to those government men – they saved us! Our house was destroyed, don't you know. Have you seen Alex lately?"

He blinked, and then smiled. Mom was exactly the same as she always was, jumping from subject to subject – easily excited and highly optimistic.

She called into the other room, her red-tinted hair bouncing softly around her shoulders as she dragged him with her, hanging on to his sleeve. "George! Jace is here!"

"How are you, Mom?" he asked, giving her another hug. After seeing those pictures of 'Lex, bloody and unconscious, it was good to see his mother safe and sound.

She smiled at him, and his father came into the room. They talked for a while, relief filling Jace.

Jace moved out of the room after a few hours, reassured that his parents were fine and safe. The time had flown by. They didn't know anything about 'Lex, but they had been kept safe for the two weeks they had been here. They had been told that it was for their own safety that they had been removed so fast. Macy was in the room with them, tail wagging and brown eyes sparkling warmly. He had ruffled her ears.

He needed to find out more – curiosity was driving him. Something that he had been chasing after for over a year was finally within his grasp. And the idea that he could understand the whole thing was irresistible. He was going to do it – and get his little sister back.

It wasn't like he trusted Q, but he was going to do this – it was the most he could do to help his little sister, so he would do it. No matter what it took, he'd get her back.

Not to mention that his family was still technically hostages – he'd probably have to do their bidding either way. This way, they'd trust him more. It was all still part of Q's plan.

Q was waiting back in the blue room, another mug of coffee steaming in his hand.

Jace sat down across from him.

"Prove it to me."

"Prove what?" Q asked, taking a small sip of coffee.

"Prove you're a government agent. Prove you are on the level with me."

"Of course."

He pulled out a different black wallet. The dark haired man handed it over to Jace. His fingers slipped on the matte black case, nearly dropping it. When he flipped it open, the gold of a government badge glinted at him.

_Sector Seven_. Strange. He flicked a glance up at the thin man.

"What is Sector Seven?"

Q shrugged. "A secret government sector based on detecting and neutralizing alien threats to the United States of America. I am the head of that organization."

"What would I be doing?"

"Helping triangulate the alien's location, and gaining as much information about them to help us _take them down_, permanently. These aliens are a threat to humanity – their whole purpose here is to use us. That is why we need to stop them."

"So, what's in the deal for me?"

There was a sharp gleam in dark eyes. "Your parents will be set up with a very nice home, and new jobs. They will have to relocate, and might have to again if the aliens discover them to use as leverage against Alexandra."

Jace leaned forwards again. "What are they going to be told about 'Lex?"

Q breathed out through his nose, and inhaled again before starting. "As you probably know, the existence of giant alien robots that transform into cars is an international secret that you happened to come across. So they will not be told the truth, for their own safety. However, my people have created a story that incorporates part of the truth – in which your sister is in witness protection for something that happened in the café a year and four months ago, that was hidden as a gas leak. Now, it has caught up to her and it was no longer safe. So she is in witness protection."

Jace nodded. "And me?"

"You have a new job – out of state. You felt it was time to start somewhere else." Q quirked an eyebrow. "Simple, and easy."

The blond hacker nodded again.

"And when we rescue 'Lex?"

Q smirked. "I'm sure something can be arranged. They will have to be told another story when we get her back."

Jace spoke. "Where is the new house? Their jobs?"

Q pulled a thick folder from the side of the chair. "Here – the information is all ready."

The hacker checked out the folder, examining the papers. Their new house was in a different city in the state of Nevada, and his dad's job was quite similar to what it had been before. Same level of a business, owned by Sector Seven.

"My parents will be in no danger?"

Q sipped his coffee. "I can't make any guarantees, but we will do our best to watch over them and keep them safe."

The young hacker nodded.

As Jace finished the folder, Q handed him a two inch thick binder. "In here is your contract. One year, to start with – but I think you'll find you don't want to leave. Secrets of the nation? Who could resist?"

The hacker flipped open the binder, and was silent for a few minutes, before speaking.

"If I don't want to?"

"Then we let you and your family go, set you up in a new house, and disappear."

Jace nodded. "Seems fair."

He couldn't help but doubt Q was really being completely honest with him, but he knew that if he wanted to even get closer to where 'Lex was, he'd need some help. And power. Q held both – and he knew it.

He looked through the binder some more, and then closed it, holding it in his lap.

"I'm going to need more time to look through this. Would you be able to tell me what type of system I'd be working with?"

Q smiled. "We have various systems working in different locations around the world. I'm sure we can find something that fit your tastes, Jace."

He'd do it. If it meant that he could save Alex from the aliens who were torturing her, he'd definitely do it. He needed to save his little sister.

Before it was too late.

The hacker looked up, nonchalantly speaking. "Have you found out anything more about the invisible aliens?"

Q stilled, and then set his coffee cup down carefully. "Invisible. How do you mean, 'invisible'?"

Jace expanded on his knowledge. "As in, able to see physically, but not through infra-red scanners. Physically, if that was a human, their heat would have been through the whole body, strongest in the center of their body – and what heat they did have was focused in their fingers. Which was beyond bizarre."

"Hm. And it was a person?"

"Yeah, the doctor for 'Lex when she was in the hospital a year and four months ago. He was the one to fix her up. He called himself 'Doctor Ratch'."

A smirk curled Q's lips. " Doctor Ratch. Cute."

Jace looked deeply at the other man. "You know it?"

Q inclined his head, tilting it slightly to the side as he examined the cup. "You might say that. Do you have any images or video of this?"

Jace nodded. "I have the data locked on my computer, secured so that no one else can access it," he said, shooting Q a hard look. It was almost inevitable that Q would have had people trying to crack his computer since the beginning. Hopefully they had only gotten through the preliminary firewalls, but it would have taken him months to crack his own computer, unless one knew the way in.

Q had the guts to smirk at him. "Yes, your firewalls are quite impressive. I'm hoping you can work on upgrading our own, once you've signed the documents. Once you have, I can let you get started work."

Jace nodded. "Give me a few more hours to go through the papers, and then I'll get started with whatever you want."

He stood up.

Q smiled and offered his hand. "Already, I can see I've made a great choice – welcome to the team, Jace Wells. Or do you prefer _Scientia_?"

The hacker stilled a little in moving towards the door, before moving outside the door. "_Scientia_ does sound pretty cool, but I think I'll stick to Jace."

"A wise choice." He could almost see the leader of Sector Seven's eyes gleaming at him from behind the coffee cup as he turned away, gaze hot and piercing into his back.

* * *

**Alex**

Diego Garcia was big. And hot. And weird-feeling.

So far, all I'd done involved sitting in a small room, after being flown here in a massive plane. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had bickered the whole way here, mostly Sunstreaker bemoaning about the state of his paint, and Sideswipe grumbling about being tied down. There was something about how he couldn't feel his toes. Sunstreaker had smacked him for being an idiot, mumbling that he didn't have toes.

It had been hot and dirty when we landed, dust blowing into my face. It was much like Nevada.

I coughed once, feeling dizzy as I did so.

Gripping my sweater tightly in both hands, I curled into a small space. I was in the med-bay right now, listening to Ratchet mutter and make metal clatter. Some alien named Ironhide was in the med-bay right now, getting his physical. From what I could make out of Ratchet's muttering and wrench-banging, this Ironhide had lost a leg or something like that, and he was getting it checked out. Ratchet was annoyed because the alien had been an idiot and gone out, wrecking some of the wires underneath the metal.

It was amazing how easily they were repaired compared to humans – if we lost a leg, that was it. Or an eye. Or both. Humans noticed the loss right away.

From what Ironhide was saying, it sounded like losing limbs was quite commonplace. Ratchet had a different story – about how all the aliens in his care were idiots.

Ratchet was amusing to listen to.

A few hours passed. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were leaving me alone – I didn't want any company. I was leaving their bond open, and that was it.

I didn't owe them anything else. I wasn't scared, per say, but I didn't have to trust them.

There was a voice over the base's internal communication system. "This is Lennox – all personnel to the main hangar, immediately."

Idly, I wondered if that meant me too. I wasn't personnel, was I? I didn't really contribute anything other than mental bond space. So he didn't mean me, I wasn't military.

I curled up tighter, until Ratchet's voice intruded. "Alex, come out."

"Why?" I asked, arms tightening around my knees.

"To make sure that everyone made it. And talk to Optimus."

I crawled out, and Ratchet lifted me up. It was sort of comforting; being in a warm metal shell that I knew would catch me if I fell.

I trusted the medical officer. He'd knocked me out with blunt trauma force and scanned me, because I was _not_ going back into Sideswipe's mind. I didn't trust those two.

Just until the bond was fixed. Then I would be gone.

They still needed to keep their part of the bargain. They needed to find my family.

Ratchet turned, keeping me safe in his palm.

He kept me in his palm, even when he stopped moving. I appreciated it. If I was on the ground, I'd probably just curl up into a little ball – it was _scary_ in the middle of a room. Then he set me down and I heard the transformation noise.

"Get in, Alex."

I moved towards his voice, feeling with my fingers. Warm metal was underneath them, and I pulled myself into the cab. I could feel both of the twins in the large room, but ignored it.

"Ratchet, why are you not… you know, you?"

There was a long, gutsy sigh that seemed to come from all around and the chair I was sitting on shivered. "Some of the humans… are not as accepting as we would have hoped. Although this was expected."

I snorted. "Some of them had the same experiences as me, huh?"

Ratchet paused. "Some have had worse."

Even though I couldn't see, I lowered my eyes. Instinct. "How?"

"The Decepticons are not like us. They have no care for human lives."

Like Sunstreaker had really cared what I thought. "That's no worse than what happened to me."

The seat under me shifted a little bit, and he seemed about to speak, when he stiffened again. "Colonel Lennox is speaking."

One of the windows rolled down, and I heard all the noise in the hangar rush into the vehicle.

Loud noises and sounds bombarded my ears, completely ruining any sense of equilibrium I had. I had no idea where walls or anything was – the room was too large to know where anything was because of the sound echoing off every surface.

The clanging of metal caught my ears, and a strong voice started speaking. It sounded human.

"I'm Colonel Lennox, of NEST. Welcome to Diego Garcia, which is the first base created for the purpose of humans working with Autobots."

What was an Autobot? For that matter, what was a Decepticon? I knew I had heard the terms before, but I only had a faint idea what they were.

"Now, we're going to break into squads to continue working with the 'bots. Those in Squad Seven, Nine and Fifteen, I need to speak to all of you ASAP.

"For now, that will be all."

That was it? What a short meeting. His voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it.

Ratchet chuckled, most likely guessing my thought process.

"Lennox is a man of few words."

I nodded, and sat on my cold fingers. Despite the heat in the air, my fingers were cold. They were always cold.

A thin shiver in the air made me even colder – what was up with the air here? I could _feel_ something. I wanted to figure out what I was feeling.

There was a thin pain crackling over my skin, and then the seat warmed up.

My head pounded, and my stomach churned heavily.

I was still wondering where I had heard Lennox's voice before.

It came to me suddenly, with a flash of remembered pain and hospital smells.

"_I'm with the local police force, I'm Captain Lennox. Can I speak privately to you for a minute?"_

I had met him long ago – back in the hospital. Which just proved that I really wasn't crazy – this was all interconnected. Along with… I smiled a little bit.

"You were the doctor. I mean, I knew it was you, but now I really get it. You've been watching me all along."

The seat shifted a bit, but didn't relent on the delicious warmth hitting my fingers.

"I've not been the only one."

_Sideswipe_. Another shiver over my skin; I felt tingly and itchy.

"But you are the one I trust the most," I said, the slightest of smiles hinting at my lips. I didn't have to trust the other two, but I didn't fear them. Well, I was scared of Sunstreaker. I'd have to be suicidal to _not_ be scared. The only one who wasn't scared was Sideswipe, and that was probably just because he was the same size as the homicidal twin and had been around him for who-knows-how-long.

Even though Sideswipe and Sunstreaker wanted me to not be scared of them, it was impossible when I thought of Sunstreaker's torture.

I was not going to commit suicide, or die in some pathetic manner, but I wasn't going to help them if I could help it. I was going to be the conduit because I had made a deal with them to save my family. And when Ratchet figured out how to fix the bond, I was done. I would go back home. And they would be fine.

My head throbbed again, pounding in agonizing bursts. It was getting worse.

Ratchet drove out of the hangar, and let me out.

"To your right is your new room."

I smiled and nodded once, shuffling out of the cab and moving to the right.

"Alex, I will pick you up later this evening to scan you again. Do you want Si-"

"No," I cut him off. "I'll take being unconscious this time."

"Very well," he said, after a slight pause. I moved to the right.

I could feel my fingers touch cold metal, and then the knob of the door. I opened it carefully, and moved into the room. After I closed the door, I heard Ratchet drive away.

I listened at the door, feeling for rumbles in the floor indicating people or aliens. Nothing.

Time to figure out that weird, crawly feeling over my skin.

I needed to figure out what I was dealing with here – if it wasn't the twins, what was it?

Slipping the door open, I took a deep breath.

I must still be feeling suicidal. Wandering around a military base filled with giant metal aliens. I was going to get squished. Fantastic.

In the very back of my mind, I could feel Sideswipe. He felt almost concerned, and slightly amused.

Eh, he'd survive. I was on a mission – find the odd feeling.

It was almost like something was leading me, a faint tugging sensation on my hands and behind my eyes.

I hadn't passed any other people or aliens in my trek, which was really odd for a military based stuffed full of them. But I'd take it.

I walked down the hall, pulled by the urging that had gotten stronger and stronger the further I walked. My body had started burning; aching. But I couldn't stop – I needed to find it, needed _it_.

::Alex, where are you going?:: Sideswipe sounded curious.

I ignored him.

::Alex?::

::Let me explore in peace, Sideswipe,:: I growled.

He relented. ::Okay, but…be careful, Alex.::

The wall was cold beneath my fingers. Suddenly, the odd feeling disappeared; my stomach was burning.

_Here, it's here, I'm here. _

A pounding throbbed in my head, erasing the world around me.

_Here_.

My heart raced, pounding faster than before, reaching new speeds. I breathed out fast, sucking in another breath frantically.

_Here._

I stood still, and then curled down into a ball. _Closer_, I was almost there.

_Now._ I placed my hands against the ground, breathing out deeply and trying to calm my heart.

My eyes throbbed, pain streaking through my head. Inhaling deeply, my eyes opened wide.

There was a bang in my mind, a heavy sound.

::Alex!:: Sideswipe cried.

Pain washed over my arms and legs.

My body convulsed once, and then the pounding in my head reached a crescendo, before blanking into a bright white light.

_It is time. Here. Now._

I blacked out, the calls of the twins echoing in my ears, seeing white flashes.

* * *

**AN:** So, anyone else think Q is hilarious? I actually really like my drama-queen evil guy. :) He's so much fun to write – all dramatics and flair and show. Hehe.

Can't deny he knows how to twist words though.

So… what happened to Alex? Gasp! She's blacked out, _again_, for Primus-sakes! Can't the girl stay awake for more than a chapter?


	15. Somnus

**Chapter 15: Somnus**

(Latin: _sleep_)

* * *

**AN: **So… Alex sort of turned into a little brat for this chapter. Usually, Sunny or Sides is the one being the brat. I didn't expect it out of my cowed protagonist…Sheesh. Think you know a person… But I'm pretty sure she deserves at least one chapter of slight brattiness.

**Random factoid of the week: **I changed my background to two different photographs. One of Sunny and one of Sides, to swap at regular intervals. Only every time I look up, I see Sunstreaker. I think I've seen Sideswipe twice? Yeah, so Sunny is a vain fragger even when he's just a background.

* * *

**Alex**

I could see the odd place again; the place of golden spheres and towers. It was in mere flashes again this time, but they were longer. I could examine each picture in greater detail.

The sun was a massive, glowing ball of flame and fire. It was creeping towards the horizon, throwing up fantastical silhouettes from the city.

I could see crystalline structures arching up in the light and glowing brightly in the setting sun. From my vantage point, the delicate structures appeared to be almost twirling in the light; throwing shadows and shards of light onto the buildings and spheres close by.

I wondered where I was; this was like nowhere on Earth. Where was I? What was the purpose of the swirly crystal structures?

The red-gold spheres sparkled in the light, seemingly lit from the inside and glowing. It was entrancing, like flames were trapped in the brilliant metal, dancing and whirling like tongues of smoke. They floated gently in the light.

The metal paths between the tall metal buildings were also gleaming; reflected shards of light dancing on the path.

Longing curled in my stomach. Each sight I saw was more enchanting and more familiar. I could tell one thing was missing, but I didn't know what it was. But that was impossible. I'd only seen this place once before, in my dream.

My eyes flashed open. I felt… _good._ Like I hadn't felt in a year and a half. I couldn't see, but for a moment, it had felt like I could. Like there was just _one_ thing keeping vision from me. Like if I squinted hard enough I'd overcome the barrier and be graced with vision.

Sitting up, I rubbed my head. Where was I?

The bang of metal and a smell like oil and hot metal washed through me. A small smile curled my lips.

Ratchet.

::You're awake!:: Sideswipe chattered, sounding excited.

::How long was I out?:: I asked, hand rubbing my eyes. My face felt tight and there was a damp spot on the table below me. Drooling. Fantastic.

My hand passed over my stomach, making sure my sweater was still present. Just in case.

Yup. I had all my clothes on. Granted, it wasn't likely I'd wake up with no clothes on, but passing out in some random hallway wasn't exactly likely either.

I could feel Sunstreaker as well – and a hint of concern from the angry alien.

But it wasn't for me, oh, no. I could easily tell that it was for his twin, in case I never woke up again. In half a second, I knew why. When I was unconscious, they couldn't talk. And to Sunstreaker, that wasn't acceptable. He'd kill everyone for his twin; he'd tear apart worlds. To know that the only thing holding him from his twin was me, a tiny, insignificant human must annoy him incredibly.

In an instant, I understood him a little bit. It didn't mean I liked him any better, but understanding was something. For some reason, he struck me as the older twin. More protective. Sideswipe was the giddy little twin, causing trouble.

A pang of longing sliced me through. I shoved it away. No use in wanting my family now. Sideswipe was silent, but I could feel his determination.

I resolved again to fix the bond as quickly as possible. And then I could go home – as soon as they found my parents and brother and saved them.

_Fix, fix._ The voice was thin and reedy; a pale whisper in my mind.

My forehead scrunched together, wondering if that had been Sideswipe. No, it felt different than that.

_Fix it, fix it. _

::Hey, Sideswipe, can you hear that?::

I felt his confusion.

::Hear what?:: I could tell he was listening harder, enhancing his hearing.

I debated on whether or not to tell him. ::No, it's nothing. I must be hearing something outside med-bay.::

Sideswipe's confusion was mixed with concern. I could almost feel his internal debate raging as to whether or not he should come over and check on me warring with Sideswipe's fear of the wrench-wielding medic.

::Are you sure?:: He questioned. I could feel his decision wavering still – he was half a second from deciding to leave the debriefing and checking on me. All because I was hearing odd noises.

::No, you stay. I'm fine, really.::

Clearly, he didn't believe me.

Sunstreaker interjected with a growl. ::Slaghead, the organic is fine. Not offlining, idiot.::

For once, I agreed with Sunstreaker, but I didn't dare even leak a hint of my approval into the bond – he'd find me and squish me.

Or perhaps just chuck me really far into the ocean, where I'd drown. Killing me himself was much too messy, and I just wasn't worth that much effort.

I pulled back from the bond as much as I was able, still feeling it in the back of my mind, but not actively focused on it. They were in a debriefing, which indicated that they'd be going on a mission of some sort. Or maybe it was just an update about this place. Wherever we were.

I had no idea. Tiredness washed through me. Maybe I could take a nap in med-bay?

There was a huff, and warm air coated my face. Instantly, I was paying attention to my surroundings.

"Good morning, Ratchet," I yawned out, fighting back insane tiredness. I had just been unconscious for who-knew-how-long, and now, all I wanted to do was nap. Crazy.

I stretched, feeling my back pop and snap in several places. I felt light pain, crackling over my skin and aching in my chest.

A whimper escaped my lips – it _hurt_.

"Ratchet, you better not scan any deeper than that…" I muttered, rubbing my arms with both hands to try and ward off the pain.

Ratchet's pensive muttering hit my ears. "The fragging- is that…" He broke off, and I heard the odd noise that happened when they started talking to each other.

"Prime, check the-" His voice petered out, and I blinked slowly.

Geez. How was it possible for one person to be this tired after being unconscious for so long? I was merely guessing at how long I had been asleep, but it felt like a long time. My mouth was filled with cotton, and all I wanted was to curl back up on a warm blanket and go to sleep.

My hip was sore – possibly from lying on a metal countertop this whole time.

I rubbed it softly, and yawned again.

"Ratchet?" I asked. He was still making lots of noise, but no talking. The clang of metal on the nearest surface rattled in my ears.

_Fix it all. Fix it all._

"Alex…your optics…"

I rubbed a hand over my face. What was wrong with my eyes?

Perhaps Ratchet was just paranoid. He was a medic, after all. Being paranoid was the bread and butter of his job.

"I still can't see out of them, so there can't have been _too_ much change," I grumbled, feeling bitter. Why did nothing _good_ ever seem to happen to me?

"Where were you when you fell into stasis?"

"Sta- Oh, I'm not sure."

My stomach growled angrily. There was a bang on the wall, making me jump.

Sideswipe's voice came through the door.

"Hey, Hatchet, Sunny and I-"

"-Don't call me that!-"

"-are going on a mission. Prime wanted us to get checked out before we left. 'Specially Sunshine here, after his slagging awesome entry on to the planet."

There was a mental bang, as well as an actual smack. I guess Sunstreaker didn't find the mental one satisfying enough.

Ratchet grumbled and muttered, before leaving me on the shelf and stomping over to the other aliens. There was some banging and screeching of metal as Ratchet uttered short words under his breath.

"Hmm…huh… fragging glitch-head…hmm."

After a few moments, there was a screech of metal.

"Good enough. Sunstreaker, make sure you don't overuse that left arm – it's still weaker from the rougher re-entry."

There was a growled out word, but I could tell he agreed.

I hated having him in my head. I hated having Sideswipe in my head too. I wasn't scared of them anymore. I just wanted them out.

::We'll be out as soon as the bond is fixed, promise,:: Sideswipe shot me a cheesy wink through the bond.

Sunstreaker's impression was that he'd rather not have to spend another astrosecond in my mind.

I agreed.

Ratchet grumbled a little more, before shoving the twins out the door, stating them, "Cleared for duty, now get out of my med-bay, idiot half-bits."

There was fondness and slight concern in his voice – he was concerned for them on their mission. I could feel the fondness in the twins for the crusty medic as well.

They left, and Ratchet seemed distracted. I didn't really want to be questioned, so I slipped down from my shelf and scampered out the door. I knew where it was from my previous trips. I had to eat at some point.

Walking quickly down the hall, I stretched, feeling pain curl in my chest as my scars on my arms and chest stretched. Slipping to the side, I ran my hand along the concrete wall. Ratchet's med-bay was beneath the hangar, so it was more protected for injured aliens. The air was more cool and damp than on the upper level.

I breathed in deeply, and shivered. Even though this place was too hot, I felt cold.

_Fix it all, fix it all._

I took another few steps, and paused. There wasn't a lot of reason for exploring – it wasn't like I'd _see_ what I was doing, and I might get stepped on. But there wasn't much else to do, really. Unless I wanted to be dissected and prodded by Ratchet, who would be more worried about the twins and trying to distract himself.

Briefly, I wondered where the twins' mission was.

::We're going after a Decepticon in some human city,:: Sideswipe answered cheerfully. He was excited – excited that his twin was with him, that he could go somewhere with Sunstreaker again and _fight_.

In that moment, Sideswipe's love of fighting hit me. He adored it, craved it in some part of his soul.

Taking a quick peek into Sunstreaker's head was a little more nerve-wracking. Reaching it in the first place was like crawling through a barb-wired tube, laced with explosives and barred off with metal barriers. His mind was blank – like a dark void – other than the desire to rip off an enemy's limbs; to slice them into little pieces and kill them all.

An unholy love of fighting lived in these two. It scared me.

I left his head as fast as I could. I was shaking from even the quick glimpse into his head – one quick peek was more than enough for me. I could never feel like that about fighting. I was a pacifist.

And the two who shared mental space with me appeared to be expert murderers.

Sideswipe felt my freak-out, and spoke, excitement still coating his voice. ::Alex, we're fighting for a cause.::

So all the aliens loved to fight that much? Holy crap, how had I made it this long?!

::No cause can create such a love of destruction,:: I murmured, not meaning to say anything, but feeling my words echo through the bond.

A smirk from Sideswipe. ::No. But we're the best fragging fighters the Autobots have. And we'll do everything in our power to protect them.:: The last words were much more serious. He sounded deadly – a strange thing to hear from the normally light-hearted alien.

There was a very serious side to the twins – a deadly darkness that I wasn't very familiar with. I had seen Sunstreaker's cold anger, but he hadn't been happy at the time. He'd been longing for Sideswipe, lonely and aching. He hadn't liked torturing me – he'd done it to reach Sideswipe.

It had been nothing like what he felt like now; ready to rip arms off and slice through an enemy with brutal efficiency.

I moved down the hall a little further.

Sideswipe spoke again. ::So… why did you go into stasis?::

There was genuine concern in Sideswipe's voice, and it was almost enough to make me falter.

Sunstreaker grumbled something about fragging twins and useless squishy organic creatures.

The med-bay door banged behind me, and I hastened my pace. Wouldn't do for Ratchet to find me so soon – I just didn't want to be scanned anymore right now. Not even the light ones that he insisted on doing. Those burned like acid over my skin.

I hesitated over my answer even as I moved further away from the med-bay.

::I was… um… exploring.::

Sideswipe didn't even pause. ::You suck at lying, Alex.::

::I don't want to talk about it,:: I muttered, not wanting to tell him I randomly passed out in a hallway.

::Why did you fall into stasis while 'exploring?' Do humans normally do this?::

::No, we don't. I don't want to talk about it, Sideswipe.::

He paused slightly. I could feel Sunstreaker's annoyance.

Well, happy mission to you to, asshole.

There was a low grumble through the bond, and Sideswipe whistled.

::Primus, Alex, that's the first time you've stood up to Sunny – gain some ball-bearings somewhere?::

I swallowed, and moved slower. I had put that into the bond? Oh, I was so dead. Squished and dead.

But not right now – they still needed me for bond-chatter. Like a toilet paper tube telephone.

::What in the Pit?:: Sideswipe muttered. ::Toilet paper? What the frag's that?::

I ignored him, focussed on the homicidal twin. Maybe I was feeling suicidal lately, pushing my luck to such a degree?

Sideswipe pulled himself from checking what a toilet paper tube telephone was on the internet. ::No, it's just that… whatever you think is in the bond whenever we talk. Which is all the time. So we always know what you're thinking.::

Oh geez, that sounded just as terrible as I had imagined it to be. Every freaking thought I had, they knew.

No privacy at all.

::Nope,:: Sideswipe chirped happily. He seemed to be over the darkness of before, and I was purposefully ignoring Sunstreaker.

Would he be able to kill me _through_ the bond? Geez, I hoped not.

::So… When are you leaving for your mission?:: I questioned, smacking myself right after on a protruding piece of concrete. My head throbbed.

::Holy frack – what the frag just happened?!:: Sideswipe groaned out. ::My helm!::

I blinked. Had I just transferred my pain too? How?

::Sideswipe, we need to go,:: Sunstreaker said, annoyed with me even more after my delightful smack on the head and my 'asshole' comment.

::Oh, yeah.::

I moved along the wall swiftly, feeling Sideswipe become distracted with something, and Sunstreaker growl at someone touching his paint.

Somehow, I made it to a staircase. I went up – there must be a way out of this place, right? I wanted to feel the fresh breeze on my face, the clean smell of the air.

Ratchet's med-bay only smelled like oil, metal and a crisp, nearly crackling smell. Like bottled lightning. That smell made me really nervous.

Moving up the stairs carefully, I paused on the landing between levels. Ratchet couldn't reach me here – and I just wanted to sit for a moment. My lungs burned, and lethargy washed through my veins, making me rest on the floor, face resting on my knees.

I'd just rest for a moment.

In my head, I heard Sunstreaker grumble. ::Primus frag it, not _again_.::

I fell asleep, lulled by the quiet warmth of the staircase.

* * *

The golden-red ball was closer this time – I could see the reflection of two indistinct shapes in the highly polished metal. A piece of crystal gleamed beside me, dancing in the fading light of the sun. The crystal was polished and shaped in such a fashion as to focus the reflected light in patterns and images.

My eyes flickered open, and for just a moment, I swore that I could see a faint grey blur before blackness washed in. My heart started pounding harder – I hadn't been imagining that, right? Had I just seen the staircase's concrete?

I stretched against the wall, feeling my neck click and ache from leaning. My back throbbed.

What was that place I dreamed of? Perhaps I'd ask Sideswipe…

Where were the twins? I couldn't feel them. Which was really, really weird. There hadn't been a moment yet where I couldn't feel them.

My head felt almost… empty.

I thought as loudly as I could – usually I didn't, because I could feel Sunstreaker gearing up to shut me up forever. And in some painfully squishy method.

This was fantastic!

I was all alone in my head! I could think whatever I wanted. Granted, I usually thought whatever I wanted, but with them gone, it was like my last scraps of inhibition were gone.

I hated them. Well. Not like they didn't know that.

What else could I think of?

Sex? My face flushed. Yeah, that was something they definitely didn't need to hear from my mind. I could just imagine Sideswipe - "Alex, what in the Pit are you thinking about?"

Trying to imagine how that one would play out was giving me a headache. And my face was likely the colour of a tomato.

I was kind of behind in that regard. I was nearly twenty, and I hadn't ever had sex. Heck, I'd barely had my first boyfriend when I had my accident – and then he'd dumped me, saying that it wasn't going to work.

Code for: You are an absolutely hideous-looking person, and there is no way I can accept you.

Since then I hadn't had a relationship. And now, with two metal aliens in my head, there was absolutely no way that I'd be able to start dating. I didn't think I was mentally ready for that yet. Hell – _they'd_ never be ready for the idea of mentally going on dates, or me worrying about clothing, or thinking he was attractive. Geez, what if Sideswipe took it in his mind to kidnap/torture/mess with the guy? I could easily see him doing that.

I'd never know how he looked at me, or what he looked like. Would he be okay with my ugly scars?

I shook my head. It was pointless to think of what might be – for right now, I needed to get rid of my mental hitchhikers. Gah.

Concern washed through me a little bit. Were they okay?

How come I couldn't hear them?

I shoved the worry about the twins out of my mind, and luxuriated in the feeling of completely owning my own mind.

Geez. How many other people had to worry about _that_?

I moved up the remainder of the stairs, opening the door. Noise and hot air washed over me. I breathed in deeply, and could taste the slightest tang of salt on my tongue.

We were close to the sea.

Perhaps Ratchet would let me sit outside for a while? I caught myself and scowled. I was nineteen years old – if I wanted to sit outside, I damn well would.

My stomach growled. Okay. Food first, then finding a way outside. And avoid Ratchet – he'd definitely have a lot of questions for me. Another slight wave of lethargy passed through me, but I banished it. I had just slept for a while – there was _no_ way I needed to sleep more.

I hiked further, smelling the delicious smell of rice and sausage. My stomach growled again.

Hmm. Food sounded like a good idea about now. And then I'd find a good corner and curl up to sleep for the next twelve hours or so. Might as well get all this sleeping out of my system as best as I could.

There was a noisy area up ahead of me – perhaps it was the cafeteria?

I moved into the noisy room, and had to stifle the urge to clap my hands over my ears. The room smelled of oil and gas. Not food.

There was noise all around me, echoing off the walls. It sounded like the ceiling was high up – had I moved into the wrong room? It definitely wouldn't be the first time it had happened. A deep voice echoed in my ears.

"Wandering around without the idiots here is dangerous, human."

I ignored it, thinking they were talking to someone else. Why would a robot talk to me?

A hand wrapped around my middle, hoisting me into the air. My surprised shriek split the air.

A man's voice cut in. "Ironhide, put the human down!"

I recognized the voice, faintly. The man who had spoken before - Lennox – was that his name?

And Ironhide? Another alien?

"Lennox, the human is going to be squished, wandering around the base."

"Don't step on her, then. And put her down."

Well, he sounded quite cavalier about the prospect of me being squished. Thanks, Lennox.

I was lowered swiftly, and nearly dropped on to the floor.

Ironhide grumbled. "I don't like to watch were I put my feet."

I feel you, dude. I don't like walking where I can't see, either.

Lennox continued. "You know the rules, 'Hide. Unless a human asks, you can't pick them up."

Really? How about randomly kidnapping them? Was that in the rules too? Sheesh, I needed more sleep. I was exhausted again. This was ridiculous.

Ironhide was grumbling again. "Don't blame me if the blind human gets squished. Or blown up."

How courteous of him. Warning me beforehand, unlike a certain idiot alien I could mention.

I was startled out of my snarky thoughts by a hand on my arm. A _human_ hand. The idea was almost insane – it had been so long since someone of my own race had touched me.

"Ms. Wells, 'Hide's right. We can't guarantee your safety if you wander around the hangar. The guys like to get a little rowdy in their home."

I shrugged. "I must have gotten turned around – I was looking for the cafeteria."

The hand on my arm was warm. "I'll take you there."

Great. Now I was labelled as incompetent. Couldn't even find my way to the cafeteria.

The hand switched to being around my elbow.

We left the noisy room behind, and I was silent.

A question slipped past my lips after a few moments. "How long have you been working with the…" I gestured sideways and backwards, past my head.

"The autobots? About three years."

"Autobots…" My tongue rolled out the odd word. I'd heard it before – wasn't it what the aliens called themselves?

"You?"

I snorted. "You're kidding me, right?"

There was a slight pause. "Yeah, sorry."

I liked Lennox – he seemed normal. Normal was what I needed after this whole insanity-inducing affair. Then again, he _willingly_ worked with these nut-jobs. Maybe he wasn't so normal after all.

"You like working here?" I questioned, subtly testing if he was crazy.

There was another pause. "Yeah, it's good. Better to know what's out there than not."

I faltered a little bit. I couldn't really agree with him on that one. If I had never met Sideswipe, my life would be completely different. I'd still have my vision, my family, my _life_. And so many people say that their life changes for the better when something crazy happens.

No. My life had become a shit-fest.

_Fix it._ I swiped the annoying little voice away.

There was a massive thumping from behind us. Ironhide's deep voice spoke.

"Ratchet's looking for the human."

I sighed. Much as I liked Ratchet, he was definitely overzealous with the scanning and doctoring thing. I was fine – still breathing, still walking, still living.

"Geez, already?" I mumbled.

Ironhide snorted. "I feel ya, kid. But as long as his attention's not on me, I'm happy."

"Coward," I muttered. Oops. That wasn't supposed to slip out. Hopefully he didn't squish me.

Lennox paused for a moment, and then snorted. Ironhide revved his engine.

"When it comes to medical officers, you'd have to be a fool to go against them."

_Fix it, fix it._

Hmm. Maybe I should talk to Ratchet about the little voice. Had I mentioned the little voice yet?

No, I didn't think so. Ratchet should probably know about this. But not right now. I wanted some time to myself, a little rest and food. Then I'd head back to the med-bay, let Ratchet knock me unconscious, and scan me. That'd make him happy.

I'd even tell him about the little voice. Which he'd most likely freak over. But that was okay. I was much less concerned about the voice than I probably should be, but I was used to random voices in my head. And this one seemed much less destructive than the other two.

I didn't really see a problem with letting the little thing stay in my head. Nope. No problem at all.

Ratchet had seemed concerned earlier, about my passing out, but I was alright. Really.

I waved a hand, and promptly tripped on something in my way. A hand wrapped around my torso, and I could feel a human hand around my upper arm.

Lennox and Ironhide were _quick_, holy smokes.

They made sure that I wouldn't face-plant again, and let me go. Ironhide was quicker to let go, giving out a snort and a grumble about clumsy humans. It made me smile – he was essentially just like Ratchet – only, hopefully, he'd avoid scanning the crap out of me.

"You okay, ?" Lennox asked, voice concerned.

I nodded. "Alex, please. Ms. Wells sounds… really strange."

"Very well."

Another snort from Ironhide, something about humans having too many names.

Lennox teased the giant alien. "Well, there is over six billion of us – far too many to only have one name."

"What does that make Optimus Prime?" I wondered out loud.

Ironhide didn't respond, just grumbled under his breath. Why couldn't the voices in my head be more like this, instead of actually homicidal?

I wandered with the two of them, feeling safe. Lennox told me of his family – his daughter and lovely wife. I tried to picture them in my head. Ironhide grumbled to me about weapons, but was silent otherwise.

Thinking of Lennox's family gave me a pang to the center of my chest.

Would I see my family again? I'd have to trust that I would. Otherwise, what did I have to live for?

Being a bond conduit was great and all (note sarcasm), but I wanted more from my life. Something more fulfilling. And I couldn't just stay here when it was over. Heck, I had no inclination to stay here at all. I didn't _want_ to stay here with aliens.

Maybe my family's phones worked? It was a really long shot, but if I didn't keep my hopes too high, then it would be okay.

I asked Lennox if he had a phone, and Ironhide snorted.

"Lennox couldn't keep a phone on him to save his life."

Lennox laughed, slightly. I suspected a story or two behind that one. I'd ask later.

I could hear metal twisting and grinding. Something was thrust into my hands.

Small, metal, and rectangular. A phone?

I typed in the numbers that I knew by heart, and listened.

_The number you have just dialed is unavailable at this time. Please try a different number._

My stomach dropped. I tried again. And again. Still nothing. Suddenly, I wasn't all that hungry any more.

After the failed phone call, Lennox left, and I excused myself. I wasn't really in the mood for company or eating, and Ironhide had gotten increasingly twitchy after the man was gone. I had no desire to be a burden. Besides, close bonds with anyone was useless. I was going home when the bond was fixed, and friendships with aliens would never work out properly.

I sat in the corner, wondering if it was worth it to find my way outside, or if I should just wait a little bit.

It was pleasant in the corner, nice and warm. I pushed my family from my mind – thinking about them wouldn't help me now in the slightest.

Ratchet found me eventually. I guess that Ironhide got bored with having Ratchet holler all through the base trying to find me. Or he just got lucky.

"Alex! Finally! Where in the fragging Pit have you _been_? I've been looking all over for you!"

I nodded. "I was just eating." And moping.

"For ten hours?!" Ratchet sounded angry and concerned. I heard the clank of metal hitting metal – had he pulled out the infamous wrench?

Oh, I was so a goner.

Wait, ten hours? That was a really long time – I had been with Lennox and Ironhide for a maximum of two hours. Right?

"I slept for another eight hours? How are the twins?" Holy crap. Where were the twins? Still on their mission?

My eyes narrowed. My first thought had been for _them_?

No. There was no way I was going to become comfortable around them. No way.

Besides, it made no sense to become close to someone that you'd end up leaving forever and never see again. Even if I did become friends with any of them, it would most likely be Ratchet. Not the evil, killer twins. I'd even take the other twins – Skids and Mudflap – over the set that I was harnessed with.

Oh, it was nice thinking that without Sideswipe pouting and whining, and Sunstreaker's silent simmering anger. And his death threats. Yes, never forget those.

Man, I'd be happy when I was back home.

There was a loud snort from behind me, and I felt a tingling over my skin.

"What is it?" I asked innocently, _knowing_ what he was annoyed with. Ratchet didn't like people not listening to him when he was talking. At least he hadn't thrown a wrench at me.

"Alex, you have slept for seventy three percent of the previous human days. Since you fragging fell into stasis in a hallway, you haven't been awake for more than a few joors, total."

I shrugged. "I guess I just needed some serious sleep. I'm almost caught up, by now," I said, covering a hefty yawn with my hand. Even thinking and talking about sleeping was making me tired.

The floor shuddered as Ratchet slammed something (the wrench?) downwards. There was most likely a large divot in the concrete floor now.

I jumped, feeling my legs shake from the vibrations.

"Stay awake for as long as possible, Alex – my initial readings were showing some… dangerous signals."

I yawned again, just wanting to sleep. Stupid.

"I'll do my best, Ratchet," I grumbled out, feeling like my tongue had dissolved in my mouth.

My eyes slipped closed. It made no difference, but the feeling was familiar.

"Alex – we need to talk about what happened last night. Where were you?"

I was about to answer that I had no idea where I was; that I had been following the _pull_ when I passed out.

There was a mental shift, and suddenly, my head was filled with two other presences. I was distracted from Ratchet immediately, attention shifting to the morons I shared my head with.

::Sunny!::

::Slag-head.::

Their minds seemed to be bubbling, giddy and ecstatic. I could feel that Sunstreaker was slightly injured – he appeared to have no sensation to his left arm. Which is the arm that Ratchet had told him to be easy on. He probably hadn't listened, but I didn't think Ratchet expected him to.

Well, they seemed okay. Pretty normal conversation too.

Wait – Sunstreaker hadn't snapped at Sideswipe for the nickname – he must be in a _really _good mood. There was a spark of annoyance from him at my thought.

Really though, this was a huge development for me. If I wanted him to be happy and leave me alone, all I had to do was find something for him to kill. Preferably not me.

Their happiness filled me, and I spoke with a smile on my face, still striding down the hallway with the grumpy medic. For a moment, I had almost forgotten that I was walking with him, and wasn't with the twins.

"The twins are back."

Ratchet halted; a large clattering of metal echoed off the concrete walls. "They're almost one hundred of your miles out."

I blinked, the gesture a memory from when I could see. There was a twinge to my left arm; a strong pulsing feeling.

"Really?"

Then again, I had fallen asleep the last time they had left my mind. So, the mental bond had a distance limit?

::Alex, you just onlined?:: Sideswipe sounded confused.

I shook my head, even though he couldn't see it. ::No, I've been awake for a few hours.::

Sideswipe felt troubled. ::That means the bond has a distance limit.::

::Does it hurt?:: I asked, the nice part of me appearing. Of course, he knew that I meant the separation. He was good at knowing exactly what I meant.

::A little,:: the alien admitted, still riding on the high of battle. My arms and chest ached.

::Well, once Ratchet figures it all out, I'll be gone,:: I spoke, almost absently. I trusted Ratchet to figure this whole thing out, and get me back to where I belonged. With my family. Sideswipe felt a flash of sadness, excitement and confusion.

Sunstreaker seemed to be in a decent mood. ::Finally.::

I completely agreed. Although, from his surprise after his comment, it almost felt like he hadn't meant to say anything at all.

A vague plan to ensure that Sunstreaker got at least two hours of bashing things up per day floated through my head.

_Fix it all. Fix it all._

Well, whatever it was seemed to be learning the language, whatever.

Briefly, I wondered what it was. Was I finally crazy? But it seemed sort of anticlimactic to go wandering, pass out and wake up crazy. And what had been that odd feeling I had had when I was wandering around? Whatever it was, I couldn't feel it any more.

Idly, I stalked down the bond to Sideswipe, trying to be sneaky enough that he wouldn't notice my presence. I wasn't going to try this with Sunstreaker – he'd slice me into little pieces.

It was quite difficult – I could barely feel him. Strange. How far out was he now? I could easily _hear_ them, but it took a lot more effort to actually _go down_ the bond towards them.

I felt oddly nosy, and seeing if I could hear what Sideswipe was up to sounded interesting. I'd done it before, when I had first met Ratchet.

I reached him, and slowed down. Creeping carefully, I tried to keep him from noticing me. There was a faint sense of blue and red, a few deep words and then…

::Alex, what in the Pit are you doing?:: He asked, sounding slightly…odd.

I fled without saying anything, and his amusement traced me back through the bond.

Well. That worked fantastically.

Ratchet seemed to be over his momentary shock that I could hear the twins again, and was back to asking questions. I pushed back another yawn., feeling the pain in my torso recede a bit.

"Alexandra, where were you when you fell into stasis?"

I played with my fingers. "I was just wandering – I'm not sure exactly. I was just following the pull."

"The pull?"

Ratchet sounded sceptical. I didn't blame him. The pull? Really? But that was the best description I could give.

I had nothing else to compare it to. It had been a weird, tugging sensation in my chest, eyes and burns. And now I had a weird voice talking in my head- well, _another_ voice.

Really, what was one more when you already had two?

Sure, come one, come all – Alex's head is the place to be!

"Explain this… pull to me." Ratchet's voice cut my thoughts short.

Another shrug – I was so _tired_. "I _had _to follow it. But I can't feel it now."

Ratchet was silent for a moment – I could tell he was having a conversation in his head due to the odd noises I could _barely_ hear. Or, not so much noises, but the sound of his metal pieces moving like they would in a conversation.

Unless he was just randomly waving his arms in the air – I could see Sideswipe doing that for the heck of it.

"Alex. Describe how you feel."

"Tired," I yawned out, feeling my eyelids droop, again.

"Just listen to me for a little bit – _do not _fall asleep."

I nodded, mustering my strength.

"I'll try… I can't make any promises though," I warned. Another yawn threatened to split my head open.

Ratchet jumped into the explanation quickly.

"I've analyzed the scans." His voice dropped a little. "I'm afraid I have some grave news."

Chills swept over my body, and I felt my stomach drop into my toes. Sideswipe was immediately talking to me, and I could feel Sunstreaker at the edge of the bond. He felt annoyed with me – the weak link, as it were.

::Alex? What's wrong? What's the Hatchet saying?::

Mentally, I shushed him and spoke to Ratchet, swallowing heavily. It felt like a book was sitting in my throat, sharp edges digging in and hurting. "Grave news?"

I tried to pull back the feelings of before, when I didn't care if I lived or died. Sideswipe growled at me through the bond. ::Don't even try it, Alex.::

I could feel his warm presence in my head as he listened to Ratchet too, mind spinning as he tried to figure out the news.

"I would have started therapy a month ago if I had just-" Here, he broke off and grumbled to himself for a few moments.

"But it's unprecedented, there's no proof of this," he grumbled.

"Proof of what?" I asked, voice firm and strong. I felt anything but strong. I just wanted to sleep.

My arms wrapped around myself, and I almost crouched down, but a warm hand wrapped around me. Ratchet picked me up, and placed me into his other hand, lifting me up to his table.

I would have been furious if it had been any other alien. Ratchet was different though – I trusted him.

There was a twinge from across the bond, Sideswipe instantly burying his hurt. I didn't care.

"When I scanned you in the human hospital, your wounds were infected with energon, and you were suffering from energon radiation."

I frowned. "Energon?"

"The lifeblood of our race – energon is a chemical substance made up of-"

I blinked, cutting off the chemistry rant before it started. It wasn't like I'd know what he meant anyways. "So, energon is equivalent to human blood?"

Ratchet huffed and grumbled about younglings not showing any respect, and how he ought to teach manners. I smiled into my hand, a sly little smirk. I could feel Sideswipe's amusement too.

::Hatchet seems to really like you,:: he commented.

I smiled in the direction of the ranting medic. ::It's mutual.::

Again, the hurt was swiftly buried.

Ratchet snorted, and seemed to be done ranting. "Extremely simplified, yes, energon is comparable to your human blood. Although the chemical make-up is completely different-"

I waved a hand slightly. "Yes, but we're organic, and you're metal. So you probably need different things."

Ratchet cleared his throat (or so it sounded – giant alien robots probably didn't have a throat, per se).

"The antidote I administered in the hospital was designed to inactivate the energon and allow you to excrete it safely." He hesitated slightly, and then soldiered on. "However, since Sideswipe didn't do thorough scans, the fragger, and I didn't have time to do a medical level scan in the year that you were gone, so it was left undiscovered that the antidote hadn't worked as it should have.

"Somehow, the slagging antidote warped and instead of inactivating the energon, it merged with it. As of now, it is still causing changes in your body. I'm not sure of the end result, but I can say with utter certainty that the human body is not meant for this sort of radiation.

"Your eyes are displaying slight changes – the colouration is much redder than before."

He hesitated a beat, before swiftly speaking again.

"It was negligence on my part that led to this. I'm looking into more antidote formulas – I _will_ do my best to-"

I blinked, and cut off the medic again. "It's fine, Ratchet, I'm sure that things would have ended up this way anyways."

I wasn't expecting such an explosion from him – metal crashed and thundered, making my ears ring.

"If you ever say that again, I _will not_ hesitate to bash you, human though you might be."

I gulped and nodded. "Sounds fair." I yawned.

_Fix it all, fix it all!_ Another wave of tiredness.

"Ratchet, can I sleep here?"

A massive bang of metal beside me, causing the vibration to toss me a few inches up.

"Alex! Listen to me! Do _not fall asleep!_ Al-"

The strongest wave yet washed through me, causing me to waver in my spot. Ratchet's voice was taken over by the new voice.

_Fix it, fix it, fix it._ The voice was becoming more and more insistent, louder and louder.

"I'll just… sleep for…" I murmured out, and suddenly, two other minds were in my own. It was like static was interfering though – I could barely hear them through the fog in my own mind.

::Alex!:: Sideswipe cried out, almost covering Sunstreaker's snarl.

::I swear, it goes offline _one more time…_::

The other two were drowned out with one voice. _Fix it all. Fix it all. All. Become one._

* * *

**AN: **So. Another cliffhanger for all ya'll. Ehe. Fantastic. Sorry 'bout , the wait this time isn't quite as long. And she's passed out again. I swear, I _can_ write something other than passing out or a cliffhanger!

And Sunny's retribution is coming, I swear on my life. She's just… heck, I don't even know. But next chapter, one pissed-off medic is coming, directed at a certain golden-yellow 'bot. Oh yes, much wrenchiness is going to be hitting Nevada. A certain, small, small part of Nevada.

So, who/what is the voice talking to her? :) I loved reading your guesses last chapter!


	16. Experior

**Chapter 16: Experior**

(Latin: _to try, to put to the test, to experience_)

* * *

**AN: **I hope the meaning of this chapter becomes clear once you've read the whole thing. I sort of struggled with the word to use, and this one seemed to fit.

* * *

I was on a high ledge, overlooking a tall tower. The tower was an iridescent golden bronzed colour, swirling and curled up to the sky. The top portion was wreathed in clouds. I was almost level with the top of the other tower, and when I looked at the ground, it seemed far, _far_ away.

There was a massive wall, colour stretching from the bottom of the tower to a point almost reaching the middle of the tower. I twisted my head sideways. Was it a painting?

I strained my eyes, trying to focus on small portions of the wall. Sections seemed to expand and whirl together, twisting in glorious patterns of gold, bronze, orange, yellow and red. Purple and blue were predominant near the bottom, with silver swirls cutting it into in delicate lacy patterns.

It was beautiful – and huge! It would have taken ages to create.

My eyes were drawn to the crystal and metal statue at the base of the massive tower – and the hint of movement from the statue due to the tongues of flame. As I stared downwards, I focused on two small pieces of glimmering gold, intertwined with crystal and swirling in a complex pattern of colours. All the colours of the rainbow, and some I had no names for reflected off the highly polished metal, dancing in little flames of contained light. I'd never seen anything like it before.

Wonder and longing washed through me in equal waves. I wanted to _be_ there, so badly I could almost taste it.

This was my home – I wanted to be here.

_Fix, fix._

I was plucked out of the dream relentlessly, wisps of gleaming golden towers and arcing crystal structures fresh in my mind.

Good to know my imagination wasn't completely dead. Although what I had seen to imagine _that…_ If only I could see again, and create some sort of replication of that place.

::What place?:: Sideswipe asked. He felt sort of concerned about me. I sent him a mental snapshot of the place, although I was sure I didn't live up to the splendor of the place.

His choked sound – the sound of an engine squealing in protest – made me falter.

::You… how did you _know_?:: he rasped out, sounding distressingly human.

My face scrunched up. ::Know what? I just dreamed of that place, sheesh.::

::How did you dream of Cybertron? You've never seen it!:: He sounded upset, and longing washed through his mind, mixed with Sunstreaker's and mine.

I didn't expect Sunstreaker's longing to be so strong – it reminded me of my desire to see my family again. Were Cybertronians more strongly tied to their home planet?

::Yes,:: Sideswipe muttered, sounding achingly sad. ::Cybertron is like… a human mother. We all have an innate connection to the planet. Right now… the planet is too far away; it's dead. None of us can feel it, and our sparks want it back. But it's gone.::

::Forever,:: Sunstreaker muttered, sounding wretched. It surprised me because he was normally somber and quiet. To actually show his emotions, even over a mental link was unexpected.

Then again, he probably wasn't used to hiding his emotions in a direct mental link to Sideswipe. I was the intruder here.

In a way, I was glad he had spoken. It proved he had emotions – sometimes, it felt like he didn't.

::That… That's terrible,:: I breathed, barely meaning to speak.

Sideswipe was quiet.

I took a breath, and moved on the med-bay table. It felt like Ratchet kept me here all the time – I was never in my own room. Although I didn't want to be in my own room – it was much nicer here, where I was able to hear his muttering and grumbling. It felt safe.

I knew he could handle the twins, and I didn't want to be alone.

I took another step, and instantly knew I had stepped too far. ::Alex!:: Sideswipe cried out.

As I slipped, I felt my foot slide off the edge of the table, dangling into open space before the rest of me followed. There was a bellow from Ratchet as he noticed me falling, and I heard the crash of metal. A shocked screech ripped from my throat, and I heard Sides yell in my mind, ::Alex!::

I felt wind rushing past my face, before something hard crashed into my stomach and hands. My head bounced off something, and the world blackened.

* * *

Ratchet was seething when I woke up. I could feel the vibrations in the table from where he was bashing something.

"Stupid." Slam. "Arrogant." Smash. "Idiotic." Crash. "Moronic." Bang. "Fragging." Crunch. "Irresponsible." Thunk. "Glitch."

I winced, holding a hand to my head. Had I hit my head on the way down? It pounded, a dull aching throb in the back of my head.

"Ratchet, what's wrong?" I muttered out, feeling like my mouth was full of cotton.

"Alex." A small crash of metal. "How are you feeling?"

I pulled my hand up to my head, feeling a lump on my temple. It throbbed slowly, with each pulse of my heart.

"I'm fine."

I could almost see his scowl. "You are most certainly _not _slagging fine! You fell over fifteen feet, and hit your head, which is enough to cause severe brain damage in humans."

I prodded the area with my fingers, wishing I could see the area to see just how bad it looked. Not that appearances mattered much – my face and body were all scarred up already. What did a few bruises matter?

"I can remember my name, the date, where I am – which is some random island – so I think brain damage can be ruled out, Ratchet."

He grumbled, and I could immediately tell that he was not pacified. I could feel the tingling feeling of a scan over my head, throbbing when it became a little deeper and scanned over the bruise.

"Ratchet," I moaned out. "Stop it, I'm fine!"

There was a huff. "I scanned you extensively when you were off-line – you're lucky your head didn't burst a vessel and bleed out. And I've made sure to install protective fencing around that table top now, to prevent this from _ever_ fragging happening again."

I laughed weakly, waving a hand, still feeling the burning from his scans tingling in my head.

"Ratchet, I'm _fine._" Idly, I wondered where the twins were – if Sideswipe had been around he'd have been nagging me with questions by now.

"You are not leaving this med-bay for at least twenty four hours until I have ensured that you don't have a concussion or brain injury."

Immediately, my heart softened. He cared. He was upset that I had fallen off the table - he blamed himself.

"How long was I out?" I asked softly. My head throbbed at the simple words.

_Fix it._ Immediately, my headache decreased. Weird.

"5.283 human hours. I have been consistently monitoring you this whole time."

I smiled in his direction. "Thanks, Ratchet. Where are the twins?"

Immediately, I frowned. I hadn't meant to mention them, but now that it was out, I might as well as go with it.

"The idiots are on a mission – it took a while to convince idiot one to leave you. Fragging glitch-head."

I nodded. A mission. They must be quite a ways out if I couldn't feel them at all. In some ways, I was annoyed that he felt he had to look after me – really, there was nothing he could help me with; and in another way, I liked it. At this point, annoyance was winning out.

Ratchet spoke again, seeming to disregard the twins from his mind. His voice was disproving.

"Before you went into recharge, you spoke of a _pull_. Can you still feel it?"

I concentrated, forehead scrunching up. "Not right now… but I heard it speak to me earlier today. When I first woke up, I had a headache… Now, I don't."

I felt a heavy tingle over my head. It stung, but not heavily.

_Fix it, fix it all!_

"Primus…" Ratchet breathed, almost like he hadn't actually meant to speak.

Well, that didn't sound encouraging.

I lifted a hand to my head, to encounter perfectly smooth skin, with no bump. I couldn't even find the place that was supposed to be bruised.

"Holy… did you give me something, Ratchet?"

I rubbed the area, poking at it hard. No pain at all. Nothing. I couldn't feel my fingers against my head.

I pushed harder, feeling slightly frantic.

_Fix it, fix. _Suddenly, I could feel my fingers, hard and warm against my head.

That was weird. Honestly weird.

"No, I didn't."

"Huh." Probably not the most intelligent thing to say, but it was how I was feeling.

"It tends to talk a lot," I muttered.

"Alex." His voice was deadly. "_What _did you say the pull _say_?"

I swallowed once. "Fix it. Fix it all," I said, my voice suddenly dropping to the thin, reedy tones of the small voice in my head.

"That's all it said?" Ratchet sounded suspicious.

I nodded and then frowned slightly. "No, it also said… um… 'Become one' just before I passed out." Again, my voice dropped to the odd tone of the voice. "But I've heard it just recently – twice. It just spoke, the whole 'fix it' thing again, and then my head felt better. And then I could feel my head again."

Ratchet sounded lethal; I could head metal flexing with harsh, grinding groans of stress. "I worried about this."

"About what?" I asked, feeling curiosity along with some dread. If whatever this was had Ratchet – a thousands of years old alien robot – was _worried_ about it, then I should probably be freaking out. I just couldn't care though. Had he been _expecting_ this to happen? Hope grew in me before I squashed it down – chances of this happening before were slim. Especially since he seemed concerned about the changes happening in my body. I knew there was changes happening – I could almost _feel_ them. And my head – that wasn't normal.

Whatever happened, happened. Months ago, I had been trying to survive. Now, I just wanted to see my family again, and whatever else happened was just collateral damage.

Gears ground as Ratchet moved, and exhaled a gusty sigh – the engine revved angrily.

"The Cybertronian people are created by an energy source called the AllSpark. We don't know where it came from, how it creates life, or anything about it. About two years ago, it shattered after a battle." His hesitation with some words made me think it was being heavily edited. "A shard was recovered after the battle, and taken here." Another hesitation. "The energy readings from that shard… have transferred to you."

I frowned. "So… how is that possible? What happened?"

There was a bang of metal. "So far, I believe that the pull you were following was the AllSpark shard. Although I never expected this to happen – many other humans have been near the shard, and it caused no adverse effects."

"How is it… affecting me?" I asked, not breathing; visions of gasping out my final breaths playing through my head.

Ratchet took a deep breath. "It is accelerating the action of the merged energon in your blood, as well as causing changes to your nervous system and musculoskeletal system. I… do not know the extent to which it will change you yet. But I _will_ do my best to find out a way to remove the energy from you."

I nodded. "How did it…get into me?"

"From what my scans tell me, it entered through your eyes, as ambient energy in the air. The scans show you drained all the energy from the shard. Your body deemed that it needed that energy."

"Was the AllSpark thing alive?" I asked, wondering at the voice in my mind. The two aliens couldn't hear it – just me. If it was alive, had I killed it and used its energy in my head? Creepy.

Another slight pause from Ratchet. "We have no proof of its sentience, nor proof of its non-sentience."

"Oh man, so it could have been alive or it might not have been? Great."

I frowned, and tried to talk to it – if it had been sentient, it was worth a shot, right?

::Hello?::

There was no answer, nothing at all. Nothing from the twins, nothing at all.

"There is no proof either way. Decavorns ago, there was a group of Cybertronians that believed the AllSpark to be alive and sentient, and tried to do tests on it. The tests were complicated and the results merely came back inconclusive. The war broke out soon after."

"War?" I felt like I was merely copying everything he said, but I had no idea about what he was talking about. A war? AllSpark? What in the world?

Although I supposed that was the point, really. It wasn't of this world, it was from another world – one with different rules and creatures.

"A long, terrible battle that cost us the planet, between Autobots and Decepticons."

"And you're an Autobot, right?" I'd heard the terms before, but I didn't know much about them.

"Right."

"So, what's the difference?" I asked, playing with a long strand of hair absently. It reached all the way to my waist now – I'd have to cut it eventually.

"The Autobots seek to destroy the Decepticons, who desire to rule through tyranny."

I nodded. Really, the whole thing could be summed up pretty quickly. For a moment, I was surprised that Sunstreaker was an Autobot – he had tortured me, right? Wasn't he on the wrong side then?

But he'd done it for Sideswipe. Who had also not told anyone that his twin had tortured an innocent person. So did that make Sideswipe guilty too?

Were both of the twins actually Decepticon-type aliens, deceiving all the Autobot aliens?

Perhaps when they were made, a switch was flipped in some, making them Decepticons and some Autobots. Like a factory setting.

It probably wasn't that simple, but it sounded simple.

I shook my head. The twins probably weren't Decepticons. But their actions up to this point made me wonder.

I felt a metal finger poke me in the back.

"You have severe scarring on your back that I was not aware of."

I shrugged slightly. It was probably from when Sideswipe had spilled energon all over my back.

The grumbling doubled in volume.

"Alex. Explain _why_ that slag-headed pile of rusty _bolts_ has his _name_ written on the flesh of your back!"

My face scrunched up a little. Which one? Name? What name? "What… what do you mean, Ratchet?"

If possible, his voice got even deeper and darker. It sounded like he was going to rip an arm off – and not put it back on.

"You don't know what I mean?"

I shook my head. Ratchet knew what that meant – he'd explained how the robot-mechanical beings could download the electrical airwaves and such. So in essence, he'd downloaded the entire internet.

"No," I spoke quietly, feeling my skin prickle at the hostility in the air.

I felt a metal finger press on my back gently; right at the shoulder blade. I was moved forwards a little bit from the light pressure on my back.

Briefly, I wondered how it had gotten there – had it been there all this time?

_"Why is my name on your back?" _I shivered a little in memory of his tone. I really had thought I was going to die then. It was a miracle I was still around, and doing relatively well.

"Alex…this is burned into your skin, and my scans say that it's been there for quite a few stellar cycles…_how_ did you get this?" he growled out. I could hear metal flexing in his hands.

I shook my head. "I don't know…" I paused. "Wait – Sunstreaker saw it when he…" I paused again, and Ratchet's voice was icy cold, so brittle it could crack metal.

"When he _what?_"

Guiltily, I looked to the side, and clenched a fist. Why was I covering for him again? Why had I not ratted him out to the medic, who would smack him around a bit, and then forgive him?

"From Sideswipe?" I tried. I wasn't sure if I was ready to talk about Sunstreaker yet.

His voice was deadly.

"This is new. At most, seven months old. Sideswipe's energon was spilled on you exactly 1.718 human years. Where did these three new ones come from?"

"_Why do you have my name on your back?"_

The deadly voice whispered into my ears. The hatred was so _strong_, it had felt like he was going to kill me right there and then.

"Alex?" A deep voice booted me out of my memories.

If I told, would they destroy Sunstreaker? Would they believe me? Would he kill me?

My mind solidified. I'd tell Ratchet – he had always believed me, he had always stood up for me. He felt guilty for letting me get hurt, for even having me in this position.

"When I was taken by the humans, he broke into the base and took me with him. I woke up, and he changed into the robot mode, and then something hurt. I think he electrocuted or burned me, or something…He kept on asking me why his name was on my back, where Sideswipe was, where the others were."

Once the words spilled out, it was like a tidal wave – I couldn't stop talking about it. A cork on a massive bottle had been pulled, and there was no going back.

"I tried to escape, but he just kept on hurting me. I didn't know anything!"

The events of that day were burned into my mind, clear as crystal. I could remember everything in perfect detail, like they had been branded into my mind.

_Fix, fix it up perfect._

I ignored it, wallowing in the memories. The fear, the pain, the terror of _not knowing _what was going to happen, if I was going to survive for any length of time.

My breathing was accelerated; pulse pounding in my ears. I could feel it racing in my chest like a hummingbird trying to rip free.

"I could _see _for a while, just a little while, for the first time since the incident. And when it faded, I…" I breathed out shakily, "I realized how much I _hate_," my voice cracked. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Hate not being able to see. Not being able to _know_ what's going on. I thought I'd accepted it, but I haven't. I want to be able to see, and it's all Sideswipe's fault, for this whole clusterfuck. I thought I could let it go, _but I can't._"

I curled down, shoving my face into my knees. My voice was muffled, arms shaky

"At one point, I thought he was gone, but then he came back and took me with him. He…" I swallowed, ashamed to hear my voice cracking as sobs threatened to leak out.

I was so _weak_.

"He knocked me out with a seatbelt, and then…"

Ratchet was silent, but it was almost like I could feel the waves of anger rolling off of the alien.

"When I woke up again, it was all explosions and heat and pain, and then this nice lady helped me, and they killed her!"

A few deep, shuddering breaths for the woman who had been killed for me, and then I swallowed, ready to continue. This almost felt cathartic – no wonder people liked to talk about their experiences. It made me feel better to know that someone else knew – even if that other person was a giant alien robot from a different planet called Cybertron.

"I figured out that the guy who helped me – and you – were aliens. After that, they left me in a little place called Mexico, with no money, no food, no water, but I was just happy that they left me alone and alive. It was too good to be true – they just _finally_ left me? I was relieved.

"And then they came back, and after a while, I ended up in some secret base," I concluded.

"I just want my family, my dog, my best friend back," I sniffled, wiping my nose and trying to cough back sobs. I was such a crybaby.

"Sorry, Ratchet, I thought I could hold it together better than this," I half-laughed, half-cried. "I guess I underestimated how it affected me. Geez, what a sparkling picture of humanity, huh?" I sniffled again, and hid my face in my arms.

How embarrassing. I hated it when I cried – my eyes got all red, swollen and puffy, and my nose ran like crazy. I hated that people offered false sympathies when one was crying too – the people who would normally never give you the time of day would suddenly be caring and sympathetic.

I could hear grinding of metal and clicking.

"Alex…" Ratchet's voice was stiff and angry, yet contained. "Is there anything else? Because, I promise you, this _will not_ go unpunished. We didn't know about this, and those two _will_ be punished for this."

I heard him move away a little bit, before coming back towards me. He spoke again.

"I will discuss this with Prime, and help decide his punishment. I'll keep you informed."

I nodded. I didn't want to be in a discussion where they discussed stuff about what happened to me.

"Alex – we might have to ask you more questions about what happened. Mainly to expound on certain points if we need them."

I nodded, after a quick swallow and pause. I didn't want to talk about what had happened with more people, or, well, aliens, but if it was necessary, then I would. I didn't owe Sunstreaker anything, and if this would help the others, I'd do it.

It was out now, no use in trying to hide that I'd told. If he killed me, well, that would suck. Hopefully, he didn't.

I could hear Ratchet pacing, _feel_ his seething mood.

"I'm going to deactivate the fragger," he growled.

* * *

The green 'bot padded into the room, pedes swiftly taking him past the rows of trapped 'bots, some stripped to the protoform and strapped down by chains around their exposed joints. Some lay limp, optics blank and offline; processors completely fragged.

He moved up behind the silver 'bot, no fear in his optics. Master wouldn't hurt him as long as he was useful. And so far, he had been.

"_Master_," the small green 'bot said, bowing. He ignored the pained shrieks of metal and mechanoid alike from beneath the silver mech's hand. "_Data bank D-382-SS is showing activity in the spark-bond._"

The red optic'd mech didn't turn around from his thinly keening victim. "_Is that so?"_

Shockwave's mind whirred swiftly through the information. The twin bond had become active again, despite meddling with the actual spark itself? How fascinating – idly, the idea of taking them _both_ apart to see how it worked crossed his mind again.

Yes.

Eventually, he'd get them both. And then when he did, he'd enjoy unravelling each and every layer of the oh-so-famous twins.

Twins were such a rarity in Cybertronian society. And to have such a two – talented beyond estimation in fighting. Most twins were only slightly talented in an area – due to the split spark, they had to share their skills. Much like the idiot twins Optimus Prime kept around – they weren't good for much other than padding the ranks.

Not so with these two.

Oh no – these two were _special_. Able to fight better than almost all they came across, and their teamwork was topnotch. He'd hoped that disrupting Sunstreaker's spark and fragmenting the processor would yield some interesting lab data. And it had.

From the moment the twin made his way to Earth, Shockwave had been keeping track of his movements.

The golden warrior had been able to find his twin again. And then a truly interesting thing had happened – the bond had opened up again. Granted, it had had some help from an unknown source, but it had opened up again.

He thought he had cut it thoroughly enough so that nothing would be able to fix it. He had underestimated the resiliency of the twins. He bent over the metal he was twisting again – the 'bot's armor shrieked in protest.

The stout mech with blue plating writhed beside him on the table, vocalizer damaged to the point where only thin, weedy whistles were escaping. He tugged fruitlessly at the chain restraints, cuffed directly around the protoform.

Once he had the twins, there would be some _truly_ interesting research to be done. But first things first. If there was no Megatron to keep Prime busy, the war would be more difficult to prolong.

Not impossible, but more difficult. He'd be able to cause enough trouble to keep Prime busy, but that wasn't his style. He wanted to do research, not fight a war against the Autobots.

If he so desired, he could disappear. He had a few secret hideouts hidden in various locations around the galaxy. Perhaps it was time to head to Earth and see if he could revive the Decepticon leader.

Megatron was so useful in making sure he had enough subjects to conduct research on. The Autobots would most likely just deactivate him – he had no intention of being offlined.

Another 'bot – this one blue and green came into the room filled with thinly keening, strapped down mechs.

"_Master, data bank A-111-A1 has become active again._"

His optic flashed. "_Interesting. Send me the files, along with D-382-SS's recent activity for the last three orns._" Perhaps there was a link between the AllSpark's revival and the bond becoming active again – the twins were so special, he wouldn't be surprised in the slightest.

And with this recent reactivation of the bond between the two, when he was so looking forwards to watching their minds fragment at the forced separation of their sparks when they were physically together. Alas, it appeared to not be. Once he got his hands on the twins, perhaps he'd recreate that scenario, and watch it happen right in front of his very eyes.

Or he'd complete more interesting tests. It would be interesting to see how much they could transmit between each other – just how interlinked were their sparks?

Would it be possible to fragment their sparks and transplant a piece into another mech to create another partner in their bond? The options were almost limitless in what he could do.

But first. He needed to move. He briefly scanned the data.

The AllSpark was active again? How fascinating. Perhaps he could use that in some way.

"_You're dismissed, Slipshot._"

The large blue and green mech bowed once, and slipped from the room, ignoring the wails of fractured mechs, reaching out towards him if they were able.

He scampered away, hearing Master walking behind him.

Shockwave stepped away from the table, flicking the energon from his digits. The blue liquid streamed to the floor, pooling on the pristine floor. He commed out to Soundwave in orbit around Earth.

-_Soundwave, this is Shockwave. I'm en route to Earth now. Status report.- _He knew this would annoy the normally silent mech. Soundwave didn't like to speak much, but if he had to, he would. He liked long conversations even less.

_-Lord Megatron: offline. Location: unknown. Ravage, Rumble, Laserbeak: finding location. Soundwave: locating shard of AllSpark.-_

_-You are trying to use it to revive Megatron.- _That was the problem with Soundwave – he was just too loyal to Megatron.

Even if there was only the smallest chance he could bring back his master, he'd nearly offline in trying, instead of taking over the Decepticons.

Shockwave might taken them over, but he had no need for an army, and frankly, Megatron was much more charismatic than he was. The mech had a way with words and broadcasts.

-_Shockwave: correct.- _

_-I will reach Earth in six orns. Shockwave out.-_

He cut the comm. link.

-_Slipshot, Castiron, we're leaving. I need you two to leave immediately, and go to Earth.- _He transmitted the location of Earth to his two assistants.

_-Yes, Master,_- they transmitted.

_-When you get there, I want you to find Megatron's resting place, in any manner necessary. Work with Soundwave's symbiotes Ravage and Laserbeak. Report to me every orn on channel seven-two-one. Encode with nine-four-one-seven encryption. I expect you to be gone within the joor.-_

_-Yes, Master,_- they transmitted again. He turned away, back towards the blue mech's plating, seeing what a slight variation of the acid did to the armoured surface. The mech writhed, shrill whistles splitting the air.

Hmm. The acid mix of this formula was less potent than the other one. He wondered how it fared against the softer material of an optic, and glanced upwards at the top of the mech.

The mech no longer had optics – he'd used them to test previous blends of the acid. He moved to a different mech – this one a dirty yellow paintjob, tarnished with grit and streaked with energon.

Soundwave could wait for him for a little longer. After all, Megatron waking didn't depend on just him. And research was research, no matter what time it was.

He flipped a few drops of a different formula of acid on to the optic; recording the mech's response to the acid with clinical eyes. The acid burned through swiftly, eating away at the sensitive wiring beneath the clear covering.

The yellow reminded him of the one twin – the vain one he'd played with for a few orns. Sunstreaker.

Yes. The twins would be his eventually; his to experiment with that delightful spark of theirs. All his. Red light bathed the hapless mech in front of him, turning the unsullied portions of the gritty blue armour a bloody purple.

* * *

**AN: **Yay, Shockwave! Haha, I feel like I didn't really do him justice. But that might be because it was through his mind, and in his eyes, his thoughts/actions are perfectly normal? Ehehe, I'm not really sure. Let me know?

Can anyone tell me their guess on what is going to happen with OP and crew? Shockwave? I'd love to hear them!

I know, weird time for me to be updating, but I'm going to be insanely busy this next week (story of my life, really), and won't (probably) have time. So, an update for all you lovely folks now!


	17. Capere

**Chapter 17:** **Capere**

(Latin: _to catch, seize, or take_)

* * *

**AN: **And some more fatalistic, pessimistic Alex for ya'll… Man oh man, what an angsty character I've given birth to. Also, she's really out of it when it comes to news and such because she's actually pretty selfish… dunno if you've all noticed that, but she tends to just be concerned about herself. Not others, at all. Which is a jerk move, but… eh. What can you do.

And you all get a cookie for the lovely guesses that poured in two chapters ago, for guessing what was wrong with Alex! What? You don't want a cookie, but instead a grumpy yellow Lambo? Well… I dunno how many of those I have sitting around my house, but I'm sure I can send some of them out… No guarantees that they'll actually make it to your house… Unless you have a silver Corvette sitting at home.

...Does this still count as a Wednesday update? No? Darn! I tried _sooooo hard _to have this ready for Wednesday!

Woah, an update for both Unknown and Synergy? Insanity!

* * *

Life proceeded nearly the same as it had before. The twin's mission was quite long, and they were gone for a while – almost two weeks. In that time, I hadn't heard anything from them.

It was peaceful. I couldn't help but feel that it wouldn't last though – that this was merely a pause in the world's plan; that the entire world was going to be ending again.

I couldn't explain it.

My fingers were wrapped in a cloth of some sort – Ratchet had given it to me to take care of, and even though I knew it was most likely as simple a thing as a cleaning cloth, it gave me something to hold on to; something to anchor myself to. It smelled nice - like oil, and a fresh smell that seemed out of place in a world of giant transforming vehicles.

I hadn't seen my family for four months now; four long months. I felt drained, weak and strained, like if anything happened, I'd snap into a million pieces. I wanted them back – I'd do anything for them.

In that time, I'd become pretty close to Ratchet, and now it felt like he was the only one who really understood me, understood what I was going through.

Although sometimes it felt like he had _no idea _about me, none at all, and was just pretending, like I did with the other humans.

But he was better than nothing.

Maybe that was crazy – he _was_ an alien, tasked with keeping the other aliens as _alive_ as he could for as long as he could. Why would I feel kinship with something like that?

I couldn't help it though. I let the twins talk through their bond, didn't interfere and answered some of Sideswipe's inquiries when he asked. But I didn't trust them and I certainly didn't consider them my friends.

They'd been gone on a long mission now; the longest one yet. I'd told Ratchet when they had been gone for a week.

In that time, Ratchet had (most likely) been speaking to Optimus about the twins, and what to do with them. I'd been asked some questions by Ratchet once.

After that, there was nothing.

Hooking a finger into the cloth, I pulled on it, twisting it around my fingers. My stomach felt odd; I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten. Food seemed so pointless, and unless Ratchet was essentially forcing me to eat, I didn't do it.

Once in a while, I needed to though – when I felt like I was going to faint from not eating.

In those times, I'd hear some of the soldiers muttering about government cover-ups and what was really going on. I couldn't help but hear them – they talked too loudly for my sensitive hearing to _miss._

There had been buzzings and mutterings around the base – I had heard whispers when I was in the cafeteria, grabbing a quick bite to eat.

The Decepticons had totalled cities in Mexico, Russia, Italy and Australia. Sometimes I could hear the TV's blaring out more government propaganda about what had happened in these cities – gas line breaks, toxic spills, radiation, oil spills – the list was endless. I had developed a new mistrust of the government after all of this. They found it so easy to twist words, create situations that never happened. And worse was that everyone believed them!

Even I'd wondered if I had hallucinated the two robots in the café when I was blinded – wondered if it really _had _been just gas and hot steam to rip into my eyes and destroy my sight.

Sometimes now, in the middle of the night, I wondered if I was still insane, still just strapped to a table and hallucinating out this whole thing. Then I'd walk into a wall and get a bruise on my forehead and _know_ that it was real.

Sometimes, I wondered which one I might prefer more – insanity or giant alien robots.

It was always a tossup.

On days like this – when I felt cold and dreary – I was grateful that the twins had been going on missions all the time. I didn't want to talk to them, I didn't want to hear them in my head, I didn't even want to smell them – Sunstreaker's fresh wax, hot oil and leather conditioner smell, or Sidewipe's pine air freshener, rubber and gas smell. I knew Ratchet's smell too – he smelled a lot more like a lightning strike; that oddly crispy smell that brought back a slew of bad memories. But he also smelled like grease and oil, which were comforting; my uncle had liked to tinker with vehicles, and come over to our house smelling of the same.

I sat down against the wall, in one of the ill-used stairways, knowing that the chances of someone coming down these steps was slim to none. And Ratchet would be the only one looking for me, but I knew that he'd just bellow down the halls if he wanted me to come out. He'd promised to stop scanning me unless it was necessary.

The medic had blustered and grumbled at me when I negotiated that, but had acquiesced to my request.

I leaned my head back. I wanted to go outside. More than anything, I wanted to feel the breeze in my hair, taste the air on my tongue.

As I leaned on the wall, I planned. Ratchet would merely say, "Alex, I can't keep an optic on you out there – no way in the Pit," and I wasn't really comfortable with asking another random mech – I didn't know all of them that well (at all) other than the twins.

My head shot up. The twins! Not _my_ twins, who were off somewhere, getting shot at and possible blown up, but the other two – the cussing two.

They'd help me – if only I could find them.

I stood up, and moved with purpose.

* * *

Sunstreaker flicked a glance at his twin, aching for a moment at the lack of spark-connection between them.

Sideswipe flashed his lights brighter for a moment, instantly _knowing _exactly what was ailing his twin at the moment.

_-Hey – we'll fix it, I _promise,- his twin swore strongly, swerving to within an inch of the lustrous yellow paint. Sunstreaker flipped his lights on bright for a moment in acknowledgement and warning – touch the paint and _die_, twin or not.

In that moment, he knew that he'd offline the little human who was tied into their bond if it meant it would return back to normal.

It meant less than nothing to him – an obstacle or a crutch, depending on how he looked at it.

Even the fact that to communicate with his twin, he needed to use the comm. was disgusting. He hated it. He wanted to feel Sideswipe like before, when it was just the two of them, against all the 'cons, and sometimes the rest of the Autobots.

Sideswipe was _his_, and no little fragging organic creature would even be able to lay one greasy digit on him.

_-Man, this mission is turning out to be a bust,-_ Sideswipe complained, using some of the organic's odd ways of speaking. Sunstreaker hated it.

-_Sunny_,- Sideswipe whined_, -I want to slag me a 'con, not just sit here.-_

_ -Don't call me that!- _he snapped, but was in complete agreement with his idiot. And not being connected to Sideswipe, when he was _right there_ was really disconcerting.

He wanted it all back to normal.

Damn Shockwave, messing with the bond.

He hadn't told Sideswipe yet – mainly because he knew that the little organic would be listening, and he didn't want to just spew the whole thing over the airwaves like some sparkling, so he'd keep it all contained until the Hatchet was able to fix the bond. Then he'd just send over the data files. Simple and easy.

Shockwave had captured him when he had been doing reconnaissance off the Ark. As he remembered, he had gone down disgustingly easy – a few shots of some weird weapon, strange code injected into his processor and he was done.

The next four vorns had passed oddly, in bursts of awareness and pain, and then orns where he wasn't online at all.

Next thing he knew, he was awake, and on a collision course with Earth, where Sideswipe's signal was coming in, loud and strong. Which struck him as odd because he had a memory file of Shockwave saying that he would _never_ be able to feel his twin again, and only four vorns later, he was reconnected with his twin.

Never again.

He was going to deactivate Shockwave, the menace.

Flashing another glance at his silver twin, he shuddered. Being that close to losing Sideswipe… no, he was not going to live through that again. No matter what it took, he'd never lose Sideswipe. And anyone else could go to the Pit (with his assistance) if they thought any different. He was never ever losing Sideswipe ever again.

Scanning the area, he felt a slight surge coming from in front of them.

_-Sideswipe. Feel that?-_ he sent to his twin, scanning more intently on the area.

_-Yeah, I got it. Let's go slag some 'cons, Sunny!-_

With a roar, the silver Corvette raced forwards, spattering the yellow Lamborghini with grit.

_-Hey, watch the paint, slaghead!-_ he shot back, booting his own engine forwards to race past his twin. It was clear that his engine was more powerful as he pulled ahead of his twin with ease.

The Corvette seemed to swivel, and then took off in a different direction, with an exclaimed, _-Ooh, there's more than one of the slaggers!-_

That was perfect. Sunstreaker's engine kicked into overdrive, and he barreled towards the Decepticon when it disappeared off his scans.

He slowed, and sent a quick comm. to Sideswipe. _–Slagger disappeared on my end.-_

Sideswipe sounded disappointed. _–Mine too.-_

They met up again seamlessly, yellow paint gleaming in the dim lighting of the dirty city.

_-Might as well let Prime know our progress so far,_- Sideswipe muttered, before shooting a comm. to their leader, using an open comm. link so that any Autobot could hear them.

It was still encrypted though – Sideswipe was talented with encryptions and coding like Sunstreaker was a master of ripping out pulsing sparks.

_-Sideswipe and Sunstreaker to Prime. We've located two possible 'cons so far, but whenever we get close, their signals fritz out. I'm attempting to locate them, but no luck so far.-_

_-Have you seen these slagheads yet?- _Ironhide grumbled, sounding put out.

_-No, not yet. Whenever we get close, they disappear. It's weird – like Mirage and his creepy disappearing act – but not quite the same algorithms. So far, I'm just getting the impression that they're messing with us, Prime.-_

_-And you, Sunstreaker?-_

_-Same here,- _he grunted out. When would they figure out that he didn't _like_ to talk? Perhaps it was just their way of including him. He'd rather be included in a weapons test.

_-Perhaps this is a plot?- _Jolt interjected quietly, sounding pensive.

_-But nothing's _happened_,- _Sideswipe butted in, sounding aggravated. _–If they were trying to get us, they'd keep us separated, and not let us keep on meeting up. It's stupid, if this is the 'con's plan.-_

_-It is possible they are just working up to the real portion of their plan,- _Prime said, sounding cool and logical. Sunstreaker felt like growling at Prime to leave the logicistics thinking to their missing tactician.

There was a slight pause in which all the Autobots considered what the plot could be. If Megatron had still been online and firing, they'd have thought 'world domination' and that would have been the end of it (that, or kill Prime – either one would have been about right).

_-I feel there is more here than the Decepticons are showing. I'm coming, as well as Ironhide, Skids, Mudflap, Arcee and NEST humans. Expect us in less than a joor.-_

_-Aw, slag yeah! We gunna bust those 'cons up for sure!-_ One of the twins warbled out, annoying Sunstreaker.

_-Psh, as if! They'll run from yo ugly face!-_

_-Prime out.- _The chatter cut off as the minor twins probably attacked each other, fighting again.

The rest of the 'bots exited the comm. link as well, just as he scanned the area again, coming up with three signatures this time.

The frag was going on? He transmitted the information to Sideswipe via staccato data-burst, and Sideswipe revved his engine in response.

Maybe next time, they'd take the organic with them. Then they could have their bond, and the little greasy thing might offline in fright. It was so weak – disgusting.

It sounded plausible. Primus above _knew_ that their teamwork was flawless – it just wasn't quite as good as it could have been, if the bond had been present. Which was why they needed to fix it as soon as possible.

It was affecting their teamwork, which would affect the amount of 'cons they slagged,which would affect the Autobot cause as a whole.

So really, they should take it with them. Perhaps he could convince Sideswipe to sneak it out in his trunk or something. Subspace it, maybe.

Yeah. It might take a little work for Sideswipe to be convinced to take it along – his twin seemed inordinately attached to the thing – but he was sure that with enough careful coaxing, he could convinve Sideswipe of the advantages. And if it offlined? Well, too bad, now let's see about fixing the bond.

Although, no bond was worse than patchy-bond. His tires ground against the pavement harshly.

There just seemed to be no way around it – until the bond was fixed – as it, completely, no need for the organic at all – he'd need to keep it alive, and work against his own natural desire to smear it's insides all over the road.

Sideswipe had commented that his hatred of the thing was irrational, but he didn't care. It was in the way – and nothing stood in the way of Sunstreaker. What made it worse was the knowledge that he _couldn't_ kill it, even if he wanted to (and oh Primus, did he want to), because it was integral to the bond between him and his twin.

He just hated how self-centered it was – as if all the pain and anguish it had suffered, and the loss of its optics somehow entitled it to uncontrollable whining.

Like the Autobots hadn't lost more than it could possibly comprehend. Their whole planet. Dozens and dozens, thousands, millions of their comrades. All their femmes, and younglings.

The loss of optics was stupid – it was still online and still had it's creators as well as other ones who cared about it.

It wasn't like none of the other 'bots hadn't lost something precious to them.

He hated how juvenile the creature was – how everything revolved around it.

And how Sideswipe treated it – acting as if the whining was acceptable and okay, like the little organic was Primus itself. Sideswipe talked to it like he talked to Sunstreaker.

And that was not alright. He wanted to kill it then and there for even daring to snub his twin, not respond kindly to the silver 'bot who was being overly gracious and even deigning to _talk_ to the slimy little organic creature.

It was disgusting.

The scanners showed that the three signatures were active again. He scanned again, and swore when one of the signatures flickered out of existence. Within a few moments the largest one had also disappeared, and then the other one disappeared. It was frustrating – whenever his twin and he were close, the fraggers would disappear. Like they were playing a game with the front line warriors.

Sunstreaker growled. He didn't like it when 'bots played games with him. It made him want to rip them apart. Frag, it had been too long since he'd had a good fight.

Sideswipe didn't count.

With the reappearance of one of the signatures, in the _opposite slagging direction_, he snarled and spun on his tires, flinging all thoughts of the organic creature and his hatred out of his mind. He was out for energon.

* * *

I'd finally found them. Now, to spring my trap and catch them.

I meandered down the hallway, following my targets carefully, getting closer and closer.

These two – the idiot twins, Sideswipe called them – were the only ones I could think of that would take me outside without fearing wrench consequences. Perhaps they were just dumber. Then again, they beat on each other all the time – maybe they liked the pain?

None of the other aliens would take me outside – they all feared the menace that was their medical officer too much.

The other twins were a lot noisier than my set. I could tell the slight differences that marked them from my set though – namely, the difference in the way they acted, and talked.

More bluster – my set didn't have to bluster, everyone _knew_ that they were lethal and dangerous. They seemed to fight a lot more then Sunstreaker and Sideswipe did too – always beating on each other for something or other. Sideswipe was always bugging Sunstreaker, but it was his way of letting his twin know that he cared about him, that he was still here.

"I'mma pop a cap in your aft, ya slagger!" One twin yelled, making an odd whooping sound. They were like children.

"Nu-uh! Not if I get yours first!" The other one yelled, and there was massive thumping noises that threatened to knock me over – the noises were immense, rumbling in the contained hallway.

"Excuse me?" I asked quietly, not wanting to yell and intrude into their fight.

Immediately both of them were quiet, and then they started talking to me. The concrete under their bodies crunched as joints spun, making an odd noise. A waft of hot air crossed my face, smelling of gas fumes.

"Woah, the Hatchet let you out of his lab?"

I supposed it did sort of look that way for those who didn't know.

The other one spoke, after an odd sound that sounded like he was sniffing or inhaling air.

"You don't scan as a crazy human – not entirely organic, but not dangerous."

A scoffing sound, and the crash of heavy metal. "As _if_ that little grease stain would be dangerous, ya loose bolts!"

Said grease stain wasn't really sure how to take that. It was true – I wasn't dangerous, but… being called a grease stain sounded sort of… weird.

I spoke quietly. "Can you two take me outside? I can't find my way out..."

"Well…" one trailed off, sounding sheepish. "Ya see, Hatchet yelled at us that we weren't to do anything stupid…"

And the other ended his sentence. "And taking you outside seems…" My heart sank.

They both spoke, sounding chipper. "Fine!"

I straightened up, listening to the two rationalizing it. Really, there should be no reason that I _wasn't_ allowed outside. Ratchet was just paranoid, to the extreme.

A hand scooped around my middle, hard and warm. It was strange – how their fingers were warm. Ratchet had explained that it was much the same as a warm engine.

A cold Cybertronian was a dead one.

One of the twins hissed. "Be _careful_, ya slaghead! You want Ratchet to reformat ya?"

I was tossed to the other hand, heart rate tripling instantly and a whoof of air escaping as I soared, feeling my stomach lift into my throat, clenching tightly and muscles locking into place – before landing in the other hand, head snapping back and knowing that I was going to find bruises on my back later that night.

"Pshaw, I could take him!" The tosser boasted,

I didn't even say anything, too petrified to squeak. My fingers were wrapped tightly around the warm metal – there was _no way_ I was going to let go if he was going to throw me again.

They continued bickering as they moved; a gut-wrenching sensation to me.

Eventually, after eons of swinging back and forth, watching strange symbols and crazy snapshots of my life flash before my eyes, the air changed to a fresh, crisp and salty smell. I could taste salt on my tongue.

The twins merely continued forwards, before depositing me on the ground.

And then they stuck around for a while, rough-housing and beating on each other, while I tried to disregard them, and pay attention to the heat of the sun on my face.

I was probably going to end up with a lovely sunburn on my face – I hadn't been outside in weeks, so I would be pale as milk, and then red like a lobster. But it was completely worth it – I _needed_ to get out of the underground, dank base.

Soak up some Vitamin D.

After a while, the sounds from the twins disappeared. I was alone.

Like always.

I leaned back, giving my aching arms a rest, resting my head on a scruffy plant and taking off my shoes, digging my toes into the hot sand. It was really nice out – light breeze blowing, hot sun soaking into my sweater and into my joints. I felt like a relaxed puddle on the ground.

I wasn't sure how long I was sitting on the ground, but eventually the heat faded, and the sounds of water changed, and the sounds changed.

No one had disturbed me, and I hadn't heard the twins in ages.

There was no point in them watching over me, after all. I was merely a simple blind human, nothing special about me.

Other than being a bond conduit between two crazy aliens. How that happened was still a mystery to me, and Ratchet. Sometimes I wondered how much simpler life would have been for everyone if Sideswipe had just accidentally stepped on me during that fight a year and…however many months ago. A year and a half? I wondered.

Had my family changed much? Had my brother dropped his conspiracy theories? Probably not – taken in by the government for illegal hacking indicated that he'd been too close to something for them to let it go, which indicated that there was definitely something there.

He'd never let it go now.

A yawn escaped from between my teeth, even though I tried to bite down on it. I didn't want to sleep – the crazy dreams of Cybertron had only been getting stronger. And I could clearly remember each one.

I heard an odd noise; the noise of a whole bunch of vehicles leaving the base – engines roaring and racing forwards, before fading at the edge of my hearing.

* * *

The silver lion scanned the base thoroughly, jumping from organic to organic with lightning speed, scanning each for the trace sense of _more_, of the AllSpark. Almost half an orn ago, Soundwave had sent him down here, to find the AllSpark. They needed it, for Shockwave's plan of reviving Lord Megatron.

His optics scanned past dozens of the disgusting organic creatures, covering the whole base with lightning speed, not scanning any of the Cybertronians for fear they'd notice him and sound the alarm.

_No traces of the AllSpark present._

He growled lowly, crouching low to the sandy earth. It was fortunate that the silver special ops Autobot was gone, as well as the yellow scout. Both of them would have noticed him by now.

Now, there was barely any 'bots at the base – and they had left the AllSpark relatively unguarded. Oh, the arrogance of the Autobots, in assuming that they wouldn't find their little secret base.

As if.

He scanned the base again, wide-spread scanners. The Autobots weren't completely useless – sometimes, they would hide important objects in locations that were much more discrete than in the middle of their base.

Soundwave had retracted him from the search for Megatron, as Rumble was already swimming down to check on their Lord.

Ah – there it was.

Ravage scanned the object again, wondering if his scans were glitched.

The AllSpark didn't have an organic component, the last he remembered.

_-Ravage to Soundwave. I've located the AllSpark, in the location you marked, however… The AllSpark is bonded to an organic.-_

_-Ravage: Is certain?-_

_-Yes, boss, I'm sure.- _He transmitted the data of the organic creature up to Soundwave, in orbit.

_-Take it, alive,-_ Soundwave instructed, sounding bored.

_-Yes, boss.-_ He cut the comm. link, and scanned the organic again, noting the odd twitching motion it was making. Perhaps the little thing was glitched already.

Maybe the Autobots just wanted a mobile AllSpark, that could run away from the big, bad Decepticons?

His teeth sliced into a metal pole and he distributed the nanites into the building, where the human liaison had leaked the location of the AllSpark to be.

That would keep them busy – if they left the AllSpark on some beach while they locked up the shard, then perhaps they didn't have as tight a grasp on the organic as they thought.

It helped that most of the 'bots were gone, to Shanghai, to fight a few 'cons who were on the mission purely for the purpose of distracting the 'bots. Really, Prime was a fool – leaving the AllSpark essentially unprotected while he flittered off to a human nation, to fight _pointless_ cons?

This was why the Autobots would never win the war.

They had left the fragging AllSpark, organic and mobile though it might be, alone. That was just asking for trouble. And he was just the mech to give it to them.

He darted forwards, putting the plan into action.

* * *

I choked, feeling my body burn like it was on fire; vision flickering in and out.

A scan? But Ratchet had promised! I panted, feeling like my skin was going to melt off.

Another one hit me, and I writhed on the ground, feeling sand creep into my clothing but not caring because it hurt, so much. Then a loud noise hit my ears, much like a security alert blaring in my ears.

A security alert? What?

I rolled over, wondering if I should head back to the base and see if there was somewhere safe to hide. There was no way I could help with fighting at all, if that was even what was happening.

I would be less than useless, causing a liability and a possible hostage. Yeah, not even going there.

I stood up, and closed my eyes, even though it made absolutely no difference in vision – or lack of. The sound was coming from behind me, blown even faster towards me due to the wind coming from behind me. Salt-tinted breeze kissed my face, making me taste salt on my tongue.

A few careful steps had me falling on my knees, hands flung forwards to catch myself. This sucked. I _hated_ being blind.

Moving forwards again, knowing that it was important to make sure that someone other than the irresponsible twins knew where I was. Especially since I hadn't heard a peep out of them for …however long I'd been out here.

I could hear explosions now, and men shouting, as well as gunfire. What was going on?

Did I _want _to travel towards the gunfire? No, not really. I turned around, content to stay on the beach and not be in the way. Friendly fire was dangerous to me too.

* * *

The other slag-heads had raced off to be deactivated and beaten up happily.

Ratchet snorted to himself, inspecting the

Ratchet was in the med-bay, inspecting Jolt's whip when the alarm lights went off, and a klaxon announced that the base had an intruder on the south side. The _furthest_ side from where he was right now.

Jolt flashed a glance at him, and instantly retracted his whip. "Decepticon," the blue mech spoke, calm and collected, before transforming and racing out of the med-bay.

Ratchet followed suit, and transformed, making sure he secured the med-bay before leaving it. He knew that the Decepticons would love to get their hands on his custom tools – tools that would take him orns to rebuild, if Earth even had the right materials.

It looked like the rest of the routine medical checks would need to be postponed.

Ratchet whipped his saw out of his left arm, giving the sharp cybertronian blade an experimental whirl, liking the feel and balance of the blade.

He was a medic, yes, but that didn't mean he was completely inept when it came to fighting. Wrangling the twins (both sets, but namely the Sideswipe-Sunstreaker duo) into the med-bay for their checkups had given him some skills in taming crazed mechs.

The medic flicked a glance around, not able to banish the thought that he was forgetting something – something important.

* * *

Something sharp and serrated sliced into my left arm, immediately tugging me backwards and making me fall on to my back. A shriek ripped from my lips, feeling pain rip at my arm, and tear at my back.

I choked out a shriek – there was no way this was Ratchet doing this. I would have heard him coming, for one.

He wouldn't have ripped into my arm, for another. And there was no way that this was grass or sand.

The pulling backwards made me stumble again, feeling more flesh rip and tear. Warm liquid flowed down my arm, soaking into my sweatshirt.

"Who are you?" I managed to get out, feeling like I might black out if the creature pulled once more. I would have mistaken it for a dog from the teeth except for the grinding of gears that I could hear.

The teeth were released from my arm, and I could hear the dripping sound of my blood dripping from the steel jaws.

Nausea swept through me. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it much longer.

"Follow me, fleshling, or I'll drag you by one appendage." That didn't sound like an Autobot, at all.

I nodded, and suddenly found a metal string in my hands, one end wrapping around my right wrist tightly, locking into itself like a self-controlled handcuff.

The sharp staccato of gunfire from right beside me made me shriek and try to throw my hands up to cover my ears.

"Alex! We'll come for you, don't worry!" I could barely hear ratchet, but warmth blossomed in my chest. I knew that I could rely on the medical officer. He'd be boiling mad, but I knew that he'd fight for me and get me back.

Although I wasn't sure how _intact_ I would end up being. Just the thought that Ratchet _knew_ meant that he'd work to get me back. I fell to my knees, feeling the jean material rip and my skin tear. I staggered back up, racing after the sharp hold on my wrist.

A weird clicking, rattling sound came from beside me, and suddenly I was being tugged along by the insistent grip on my wrist, hauling me along swiftly, before I found myself knocked on the head. I was instantly unconscious, taking with me the warm glow of Ratchet's hollered words.

* * *

Ravage felt like smacking himself in the head with his tail, if it wasn't wrapped around an organic's wrist in a tight grip. Why in the Pit had he _bitten_ the thing? Now its organic fluids were all over his denta and in his circuitry. Organics were disgusting.

Frenzy was gibbering crazily beside him, sounding slightly scrambled. Being separated from Soundwave had not done good things for the little symbiote's mentality. Then again, being away from Soundwave for so long had changed him too – his core programming was more…animalistic than before, case in point being that he'd chewed on a human…and _liked_ it for a moment – the control, the hot, fresh blood, the knowledge that he could tear it apart with his denta if he so desired.

The lion snarled, dragging the lagging human behind him.

A small purple bot was waiting, one arm transformed _a la_ pile driver, and the other ready to hang on to a human. Rumble was weird, but not as strange as Frenzy's crazed changing back and forth from stereo to cellphone to symbiote.

He dragged the human in, and Rumble promptly knocked it out, picking it up with his right hand. He almost dropped it.

"_Why the frag is it leaking?" _Rumble whined, chassis shuddering.

Ravage snarled, feeling more organic fluid drip from his denta and spatter on the clean purple 'con.

"_Gross!"_ Rumble wheezed out, running forwards as swiftly as possible, away from the base. As they reached the other side, the purple car transformed into a boat, jumping into the water with one hand tucking the human safely into the middle of the boat so it wouldn't fall overboard and drown. This was so much more troublesome – the original plan was to have Ravage and Frenzy infiltrate and disappear into the ocean. But the human would die if it was underwater for less than a breem.

Crazy, how delicate the organic creatures were. And the Autobots willingly allied themselves with these things.

Ravage didn't see why – they'd offline permanently in less than a vorn, and they were pretty much useless.

He commed Soundwave, still in orbit above the Earth.

-_Ravage to Soundwave. We got the AllSpark shard, and the human. Same deposit location?-_

_-Soundwave acknowledges: proceed to Phase 4. Soundwave out.-_

_-Understood. Will keep you updated, Ravage out.-_

* * *

**AN: **Wow, Sunny was in a bad mood when I jumped into his head. Geez. Talk about repressed. Him and Alex…gah. Romance and Sunstreaker just go hand in hand, don't they? Ah well, she's captured by the Decepticons now, so life is looking up, right? :)

And was that a foreshadowing of some events of ROTF? Why, yes, Or4ng3, I do believe it was. So what does that mean for our intrepid heros? Well, it means that someone who _was _dead might not be dead for much longer. Ehehe.

Anyone know what's happening next? I'd love to hear theories!


	18. Virtus

**Chapter 18: Virtus**

(Latin: _strength, power through courage, bravery, manliness_)

* * *

**AN: **Gasp! I updated on a Wednesday again! Holy Primus!

Hehehe – I absolutely love the reviews I got. They told me that I was doing something right! Well, in the case of Sunshine and Alex – the reviews were pretty mixed. Some people were very pro-Sunshine, which is completely what I intended, as well as pro-Alex, which was also what I had in mind. :) Ain't I a jerk? But that you guys are empathizing with both is absolutely fantastic!

* * *

My eyes fluttered open. Blackness greeted me.

"You're finally awake, fleshling?"

"Primus, I thought I'd have to use my pile drivers on the human to wake it up!" A voice whined.

I froze. None of these voices were even slightly familiar. Other than the first one.

My arm throbbed heavily, and I groaned slightly. How long had I been out?

"You've brought me ze human, yes?"

This voice spoke quickly, in rushed tones and an odd accent pervading the words. French? There was a strange clicking sound, like the legs of a tiny creature scampering its way towards me. I froze, feeling my heart rate jump. If only my fluky vision would kick in now!

Pinpoints of sharp pressure on my stomach – claws? – and the voice was closer, coming up my torso.

"Mm, yes, yes, I feel ze 'Spark too."

"Scalpel, ya think it'll work in reviving Lord Megatron?" the same pile driver voice asked.

"Only one way to find out, yes?" The words filled me with dread.

I smashed both of my hands down my body, trying desperately to _get the thing away from me._ My hands contacted warm metal and a shiver raced through my body. I flung the little cretin sideways, feeling the scab on my arm rip and start leaking blood again.

It let out a weird garbled shriek.

Swinging my legs off the surface I was on, I jumped. _Bad idea._ My thoughts flashed swiftly though what I had just done. If this was anything like Ratchet's table, it could be twenty feet above the ground.

Adrenaline flowed through me, and my skin prickled. My eyes burned, and suddenly, I was seeing the world in red-tinted vision.

The floor wasn't very far down – perhaps eight feet. My ankle twisted as I landed and fiery pain lanced up my right leg. I ignored it.

A large empty room, with me located in the center. A panther-shaped reddish grey alien, brilliant red eyes glowing at me. A purple-red alien with the same red eyes. A tiny spider-like alien that was prowling towards me, evil intent gleaming in red eyes.

I bolted, even though I could see that it was useless. The only door was past the panther-alien, and there was _no way_ I was going to get past that kitty. A weird sound bubbled out of my throat – a hysterical laugh mixed with a sob.

These weren't the self-proclaimed 'good guys,' were they. Nope. These were the 'let's dissect her brain!' type of aliens.

What kind of freaking world did I live in?! This stuff didn't even happen in movies! Or if it did, it would end with the victorious hero climbing out from a wrecked pile of aliens, gorgeous co-star clinging to their side, humanity grateful and saved once more.

Yeah right. I was a blind girl with confidence problems and two psychotic warriors living in her head.

I could hear my heart beating in my ears; a frantic, pounding rate that made my head ache.

I raced towards the other end of the room, scanning desperately for a door. No door revealed itself, and I could feel my lungs and legs burning from the exercise.

When I got out of this, I was working out, for sure. So that I could run further.

_That depends on _if_ you get out…_ A pessimistic voice whispered in my mind.

Cold dread curled around my stomach, slowed my steps.

There was no other way out.

I hooked a quick turn, and stopped at seeing the panther right in front of me, sitting on its haunches, red eyes analyzing me.

"Now that you've realized the futility of running?" A smooth, cultured voice reprimanded me. My heart sunk into my shoes.

The panther circled around me, much like a vulture or buzzard around a dying animal. The click of steel claws was harsh in the echoing room. I must have been overly panicked if I hadn't heard _anything_ when I was running.

The image of me, pelting as fast as I could towards the door, and the panther, easily loping after me struck my mind. It was _toying _with me, showing me how weak and pathetic I really was.

My steps back were slow. Resigned.

The little spider wiggled up and down, and I felt a familiar pain start at my temples and then increase to unbearable levels.

I shrieked and ducked, as if I could physically avoid the burn of the scan. My skin felt like it was melting off, bones liquefying in the searing pain of the scan.

Curling into a little ball on the floor, I scrunched my eyes closed and waited for the pain to _stop_.

I didn't realize I was echoing the sentiment until one of the aliens spoke, loudly.

"Primus, shut the frag up already! You're giving my processor an ache."

His tone reminded me of my mental hitchhikers. Where were they?

I was alone. It was a testament to how long it had been since they had been back that I was able to forget that I shared my mind. Now, I almost wanted to hear them, just so that I could try to get free. They were aliens too – and they were significantly bigger than these little ones.

The pain stopped, and I panted, hands on my knees and eyes wide open. I couldn't miss a moment of this.

Spider came forwards, and spoke. "Get ze human back on ze table. Chop chop!"

The panther prodded my back with claws, leaving little pinpoints of pain in my upper back. I cringed away, and stood up swiftly.

Walking back to the table and the little spider alien was one of the hardest things I had ever done. My vision was stronger than ever, with no signs of wavering, and yet I knew that I was walking to my death.

None of the other aliens – Ratchet – knew where I was. There was nothing I could do to prolong the process; nothing I could barter to give them.

"Ze human has ze 'Shard in its body – extraction!" The little spider waved its pincers in the air in an excited manner. I felt sick to my stomach, and my leg throbbed with each step.

Technically, they didn't need me alive for this – should I cause enough problems that they killed me?

An accusing voice that I hadn't heard in a long time informed me that dying/being killed was the coward's way out.

The cultured voice spoke from behind me. "Can you tell if it can channel the energy?"

"It is impossible to tell. Ze human is _using_ ze energy for itself!"

Whiny spoke. "Then take the AllSpark out."

Wait, they thought _I_ was the AllSpark? That thing ratchet had told me I sucked the energy out of and showed up as? The source of their life? Oh, this was so not good.

I was frozen with horror, throat tight and swollen.

I was so dead.

A spark of an idea lit up in my head. If I could stall them… The idea fizzled out.

Stall them how? Use my 'Spark powers to light up like a Christmas tree? I didn't think so.

Another nudge to the back got me moving again, and I eventually reached the table, feeling my doom coming with each frenetic beat of my heart as I stared up at the bottom of the table.

The spider approached, little pincer feet tapping out a complicated rhythm of movement, and pointed at the floor.

They weren't going to have me on the table again – and I didn't even know how I'd get back up there in the first place. My ankle throbbed.

"Lay down, human."

I complied, throat tight and eyes hot. They almost felt like they were burning with the intensity of everything I was seeing. I could see the drops of condensation beading on the steel beams.

Spider flipped a lens over its eyes and hopped on to my legs.

"Restrain it," it commanded, and before I could move, the panther had wrapped my legs with its tail and gripped my right wrist under its paw. The claws gleamed a menacing silver. The paw was warm – strange. It felt like static electricity was buzzing under my skin, waiting for me to touch something and spark with pain.

Whiny came over as well and slammed a foot down over my left wrist. For a moment, I was sure that he (it sounded masculine) had crushed it, but then I noticed the little indentation in the foot, just enough to keep my arm from being crushed. At this point, I was sure that it was dumb luck.

Spider examined my shoulder with extreme interest, and I felt the pain of a scan again.

A scream escaped my lips, and I thought longingly of the medic who only scanned me when I was unconscious – which hadn't happened since the AllSpark thing two weeks ago.

"AllSpark in shoulder – extract, extract!" It sounded gleeful and immediately, one of the pincers whirled into a saw. I shrieked again, unable to move as the spider launched the blade into my skin, ripping through the sweater with ease.

I felt the burning pain of skin being separated, and blood bubbling to the surface. The pain was intense – a white-hot inferno of feeling. My vision was sharper than ever before, magnified to the point where I could see the scratches in the bolts of metal in the roof above me.

The saw was ripping at bone now, slicing through it like swiss cheese. Tendons snapped and muscles were sawn through.

I blacked out.

* * *

When I woke up again, my right shoulder was throbbing in agony, and the world was black. I had no idea how long I had been out for, but it felt like a while.

I could hear the aliens, speaking to each other. My wrists and legs were free – my wrists were bruised and chafed from how hard I had been pulling on the alien restraints.

I blinked, and my eyes spasmed. Pain flared through my eyes, and suddenly I could see again – they had left me on the floor, curled into a ball.

_Fixed it._

Spider was clutching a bloody chunk of metal. It was over the silvery-blue-grey form of another alien, metal raised high. It speared the glinting, dripping red metal into the alien with a slick noise. I held my breath unconsciously. What was supposed to happen?

It seemed like the other three were thinking the same as me, all frozen like stone. Waiting for something to happen.

After a moment, Spider whirled around, and pain filled my body as a scan hit me. I screamed, and curled my body around on the floor, feeling my skin pulse and eyes throb.

"Ze AllSpark is still in ze human!" The little alien shrilled, bounding towards me. My mind slowed, seeing the alien move towards me in slowed fashion. Each leg moved slowly, two legs moving forwards and then another two. Beady red eyes sparkled at me, and I took in a deep breath. The click of little metal legs was going to drive me insane. If I wasn't already.

Whiny groaned. "So, this little organic thing is the fragging AllSpark. Fantastic. What in the slagging Pit are we supposed to do now? Stuff it into Megatron?"

They were going to put me _in_ an alien? Oh, hell no.

I scrambled up, and stared at the silver alien. It looked harmless.

"Who's Megatron?"  
Sometimes I hated my mouth.

Panther was right behind me, and I felt the air behind me tingle, prompting me to duck.

A heavy metal paw sizzled over where my head had been. That had been close. Why had I known to duck?

"It's _Lord_ Megatron to you, organic!" Whiny blustered.

So, this Megatron was important. I couldn't remember ever hearing his name before. Although, if I had heard it, then it hadn't stuck all that well. Which was understandable – I _had_ had a lot on my mind. Namely, two terrors.

Panther spoke, voice calm and modulated. He seemed completely calm about not hitting me – it didn't seem to concern him one way or the other. That made me more nervous – those who didn't even show they cared were scarier than the blustering ones.

"Lord Megatron is the leader of the Decepticons. He is currently offline, and our mission is to bring him online. With the AllSpark."

"Which you guys seem to think is me," I swallowed. Fear was racing through my veins, to the point where my skin was tingling, eyes pounding.

Whiny sneered. "Absolutely idiotic, I know. As if the AllSpark would choose to exist in a puny organic creature of all things."

Spider leapt up to my legs.

"No mistake, no mistake – ze human is ze 'Spark." Little legs waved as Spider flipped that lens down over an eye again. "Ravage, place ze human in Megatron's chassis."

I felt Panther – Ravage – move up behind me, metal claws clicking on the flooring. I flicked a glance backwards, seeing the flaring silver metal of the alien stalking towards me.

Jumping up to my feet, I moved away from the alien warily, feeling my ankle throb lightly.

"So you want me to sit on his chest?" I asked, moving towards the dead alien. This was creepy, and scary. I wanted to go home.

"Have some respect, organic flesh-bag! That's Lord Megatron!" Whiny snapped.

I knew that Ravage's tail was whipping towards my legs, but I was too slow to move out of the way. I landed on my butt, and immediately knew that the area was going to bruise.

Moving swiftly to my feet again, I took a few steps towards the dead skeleton of their leader. They must really need him, I mused.

Or perhaps the aliens had different customs when it came to their dead.

The little one with the saw skittered out of the way. A frisson of fear slithered down my spine. He scared me, a lot more than the other two. Ravage seemed more logical about things, and Whiny was annoying. But the little doctor one was scary. He could whip saws out of his arms, and wanted to cut me into pieces.

Ravage had bitten me, so it wasn't like he was innocent. I couldn't trust any of them. Not even my own side.

"Move, human!" Whiny snapped, and I jolted forwards, out of my thoughts.

I reached the alien swiftly, mind racing but unable to see a way out of this. I couldn't hold back my hopes of being rescued, but as time went on, that was looking less and less likely. I had no idea how long I had been unconscious for, as well.

It took me a moment to actually touch the dead alien. There was something creepy about climbing on a dead thing, regardless if it was an alien or not.

I touched it, palm flat out. A slight tingle went through me, the result of my skin being so sensitive. It felt like I could almost _feel_ the essence of the being that this had been – angry, malicious and dark. Although that could just be because I felt the same things in Sunstreaker.

I wasn't sure what was going on.

Taking a step on the alien, I clambered up, feeling slick metal and slight weld-lines beneath my fingertips. My right shoulder felt numb – I wasn't able to use my right hand.

Once I reached the top, I sat down, feeling wires and tubes flexing under my fingertips from a harsh, glaring wound in the alien's chest.

My heart thudded in my chest.

It looked like something had ripped him apart from the heart out. I slipped downwards, legs sliding into the hole in the chest, up to my armpits. This was so surreal.

Spider slipped up beside me, little claws clicking on the rusted metal beneath it.  
"Restore Lord Megatron, human."

"I can't!" I sputtered, trying to speak as fast as I could. "I don't even think I'm this… AllSpark thing that you think I am, hell, I'm just a random human who got accidentally sucked into all this shit, and I'm pretty sure I must have been a serial killer in a past life to have karma this bad."

I was blathering.

I ended up waving my arms in the air, trying to convince them that I wasn't the AllSpark. They had the wrong human.

Whiny snorted – an odd sound that was like an engine backfiring.

"I think it's broken."

It ended up they way they wanted. I was armpit deep in the chest of a dead alien. Three creepy aliens with glowing red eyes were crowded around me, staring at me.

As if I would suddenly burst into a glowing ball of light or a giant hotdog or something. A small smile curled my lips at the sheer surreal tone to all of this. My life was shit.

"And now it's flashing denta at us. Doc, you sure this is the right one?"

"Scans as AllSpark, revive Megatron!" the little spider cackled.

The little tormentor stabbed a limb into my arm. Purple blood beaded around the wound. I stared. _Purple?_ Had I seen that right? I rubbed my eyes, and stared again. Yes, it was definitely purple.

How? Perhaps it was due to the stuff Ratchet kept on giving me.

I added it to my list of things to ask Ratchet _when_ I got out of here. But lower down, because it wasn't as important as my family.

Their medic kept on stabbing me. After the first initial sharp pain, I didn't feel anything.

_Fixed it._ My little voice sounded undeniably smug.

The little alien kept on staring at me, and then snarled. "Nozing is happening."

He danced downwards, and then whirled around. Instantly pain sliced at my body, before becoming intensely focused on my face – my eyes in particular.

I shrieked, falling backwards in pain, feeling my back slice against the metal of the dead alien. I couldn't _avoid_ it, and it _hurt so much_.

_Fix it, fix it!_ The voice sounded frantic.

The medic went crazy with the stabbing. I felt like a pincushion, and I should have been bleeding all over the place.

Staring down at my arm, I blinked. Metal glinted in the wound. _How_ was that possible?

I wasn't bleeding any more.

After a particularly harsh zap, in which I felt the skin around the metal burn and the acrid smell of burnt flesh hit my nose, I felt my vision flicker.

Scalpel danced on my stomach, saw raised. This one would probably be lethal – his red eyes were gleaming.

Ravage growled. "Resist terminating the human for a moment, Scalpel."

If it wasn't impossible for metal crab-faces to pout, I'd have sworn that was what the little alien was doing.

"Ze human's optics are clearly ze AllSpark. We must remove zem at once!"

"Once the optics are removed, the organic might offline due to bloodloss. If you are wrong, Soundwave will be very displeased."

The saw turned back into a little claw.

Whiny growled. "So you don't know what to do next? Fantastic. What kind of medic are you?"

Ravage was quiet. "Enough, Rumble. I will contact Soundwave."

There was a moment of silence as the silver panther leapt down with the slightest creak of joints and metal claws.

Scalpel was dancing around, alternating between staring at me intently and wandering. It was muttering to itself.

Whiny was poking me in the head, repeatedly. My skull throbbed, and he wasn't gentle.

"Says here Doc Ratchet is thinking that you're depressed. What a load of slag."

"Depressed?" I asked, wondering how he knew all about me – and depression? Ratchet thought I was depressed? I wasn't depressed.

He didn't even answer my question.

Rumble spoke. "You know, I've been thinking, human."

"Must be hard with no brain," I muttered before I could think about what I was saying. I was exhausted – I hadn't slept yet. And I felt fuzzy; sort of warm and cold at the same time.

A harsh laugh. "Stupid human flesh bag. As if your petty problems have even the slightest sway with us. Poor, poor human, losing its optics and family. Poor, poor human." His voice was mocking, a false soothing tone to his anger.

"Well guess what, idiot! We've lost more than you could even compute! You think _your _life has been rough, you selfish human? We lost our entire fragging planet! We lost _everything_! And now we're on this slag hole of a planet, doomed to extinction!"

I opened my mouth but wasn't able to get even a word in edgewise.

"You think Ratchet cares about you? You think you're something special because you have the AllSpark within you?

"Frag no! I bet they just use you – I bet he put the 'Spark in you! What a coincidence, a blind human that just _had_ to go with the Autoscum. Oh, what a coincidence, you happen to now be the 'Spark and can never leave! What did they tempt you with – your family?"

I jolted, his words feeling completely accurate.

Whiny continued conversationally. "I bet they told you that they'd find your family if you helped them out, huh?"

Another quiver of muscles. He was right. I hadn't thought of it that way.

_Were_ they just using me?

Blind in the dark. It didn't help that Whiny was still yelling at me.

A few of his words were hitting me right in the stomach though.

I thought I had it rough? For losing my eyes and my family?

All of the aliens had lost their whole planet. An actual planet, that (according to Sideswipe) was like their mother.

That old saying popped into my mind. _Life is what you make of it._ So far, ever since the incident with Sideswipe a year and a half ago, I'd done nothing.

That was ending now. I was taking my destiny into my own hands. If I never got out of here, well, it would be a short resolution, but if I did – I was making the most of it. I was going to live and leave the base, go travel or something.

Learn some self confidence.

Figure out who I really _was. _With no twins at all. Just me.

I was done being nice for the sake of being nice.

A moment later, the inner strength waned swiftly, and I felt silly. _Figure out who I was? What was I, sixteen?_

The idea of being used wouldn't leave me though – his words _had_ been eerily accurate. What if it was true and Ratchet was only making me think that I was special? He didn't seem like the lying type, but then again, I wasn't really sure about the aliens to start with.

"Rumble, desist," the calm voice said. That was Ravage.

'Rumble' was silent. Then he spoke again, in a low grumble that I barely heard. I didn't think he meant for me to hear.

"Damn Autobots, losing the planet."

The Autobots had lost the planet? But Sideswipe had told me that… well… he told me that the planet had been lost, and was now dead.

The Decepticons were the bad guys – they had totalled cities and killed hundreds of people. The Autobots were trying to stop them. Ratchet had told me that even though the big baddie was killed, there were still a lot of loose ends to clean up.

I thought through Rumble's words again.

_I bet they told you that they'd find your family if you helped them out, huh?_

I stared at the three aliens.

What if they were just saying they'd look for my family, and not actually doing anything because I was helping their two most volatile warriors?

It had already been four months. How long could it take to find a single family?

Doubt curled in me, mixing with my fear.

They weren't looking for my family. They never had been.

No, wait, what about Ratchet? He cared about me, and wasn't shy about expressing his thoughts. But he wasn't helping find my family. I couldn't escape the thought now that it had been planted. Were they even looking for my family at all? How would I know if they were or not?

There was nothing I could do. Nothing but leave.

My eyes hardened. At this rate, _I _could find my family faster. And that was saying something.

The little silver crab alien was staring at me intently, little pincers waving in the air and twitching slightly.

It looked like it wanted to dissect me. Which probably wasn't that far off the mark.

There was nothing I could do. Nothing I could say, nothing I could trade, barter or negotiate. If they wanted to kill me, they could.

A feeling of déjà vu laced through me. This was the same as when Sunstreaker had first kidnapped me. I had had no control, and he had hurt me, much like they had.

What was the difference, between the two groups?

Sunstreaker had done it because he was trying to reach his twin.

They were doing it to get their boss back.

Sunstreaker didn't apologize. Neither did they. So far, other than Ratchet, none of the aliens cared if I lived or died. Well, maybe Sideswipe cared a little bit. But only because I was so twisted into their minds.

A harsh laugh escaped me.

So far, this warring race of metal aliens was much like humanity. Both sides. Even though one was supposed to be good, kind and noble like a story told to children, it was anything but. How sad was it – I'd been with the good guys and they were just as bad as the bad side.

Then again, even good guys had rotten eggs in the midst. Perhaps it was just my luck to meet some rotten eggs.

The ones ripping me apart now were just doing their job. I'd be the first to admit that life was filled with grey areas, but this one… Sunstreaker had tortured me to find his brother, even when I could not help him.

These aliens were trying to bring back their leader because they thought I could help.

They were the same. The exact same.

How sad was that? I couldn't even tell the difference between the self-proclaimed good guys and the bad guys.

If-_when_, when I got out of this, I was going to leave. Look for my family. Live a little. Do what normal nineteen-year-olds did. Whatever that was.

Ravage spoke, making me flash back to the present. "Soundwave does not want the organic offlined, but if the optics are the AllSpark, it will be necessary to take them out."

They were going to take my eyes?

"No, you can't!" I blurted out, not thinking and drawing their attention back towards myself.

Whiny grinned at me, baring silvery teeth. What possible use could teeth be to a metallic alien?

"Why not? You aren't using them."

I shook my head, stepping backwards and nearly falling off the dead alien.

"Besides, you won't be alive for much longer anyways, and it isn't like the Autobots are coming for you."

"You're lying – they'll com-"

"For a blind human?" Rumble snorted. "As if they'd come for a useless, blinded human."

Why would they come for her? After all, she was just a human, tied in to the minds of two unstable warriors.

"And those two?" Rumble sneered. "They care only for each other – Primus, I bet they're only using you too." His voice was a mockery of soothing. "Poor human, being used by all the big bad aliens."

His mouth split into a wide, jagged grin. "Including us."

My mind flashed through all my memories of the twins.

Sideswipe, blinding me. Protecting me in the school and watching over me.

Sunstreaker, hurting me, taking me to the aliens.

Both of them, telling me that I wasn't allowed to be scared of them, because it was interfering with the bond. My eyes narrowed.

They have never done anything for me – not really. Everything has been for them – my bargain was skewed in their favor, my 'fear' of them was irrational – being Sideswipe's friend was for his benefit, and that was only because they didn't want me to be dead and cut off their bond. If I was scared, it would make their bond feel weird.

There was no difference between them and these 'bad' aliens. All of them were just using me for something or another. Even Ratchet was using me – I scanned as the AllSpark. That was the heart of their planet – he probably had other plans for me that he hadn't told me about.

I felt bitter. Did no one want to help me just for me? Was I the only one who would help myself out? Did I have to do everything myself?

A weird feeling filled me, swelling in me the longer I thought.

The answer reverberated within my mind. Yes. I was going to have to do this by myself. I was alone – had been since I was blinded, since Liam ditched me at school as his friend, since the whole giant robotic alien organisms masquerading as vehicles on earth, since my family was taken by government agents.

A smile split my face, hurting with how strong I was grinning. I was done with giant aliens.

And once I got out of here, I was leaving. Alone. No twins to force me into acting as their bond, no angry medic to keep me trapped in the lab, no family to keep me tied down.

Alone.

Something sunk into the pit of my stomach. They weren't coming.

But Ratchet had said I was the AllSpark! I said as much, hearing my voice quaver. Despite my brave thoughts earlier, I was quick to revert back to my normal self. They couldn't suspect I had grown a backbone – it would make them wary, make it more difficult to get out. However I had to.

Rumble smirked at me, all flashing silver teeth and gleaming red eyes. "Not for long."

It had been too long – how long had I been here? Twelve hours? Twenty? A whole day?

No one was coming. Ratchet wasn't coming.

I was going to die.

Something rebelled against the thought – something strong and wild and fierce.

No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! I was _not_ going to die – they'd have to do their worst! I was not going to take death calmly. I was going to fight for it – even if I was alone, and not all that strong, I was not going to die.

There was not a chance in hell that I was going to die. I glared at the aliens with slit eyes. They were not going to get me – I was going to survive, going to prosper and make it.

I'd laugh and dance on their corpses, spit on their graves.

I was going to live, for only me. No freaky alien twins. If I helped them with their bond, they should just take what they could get. Not force me into it. I was done.

And I was getting out of here, alone.

I didn't need any help!

"Scalpel, do you require assistance in restraining the human?"

"Hurry, hurry, I need to get ze eyes." Little claws danced through the air like macabre strands of grass in the breeze.

Horror grew through me. They were going to rip out my eyes? The eyes that had been through so much already? That were working for the longest period I had ever experienced?

Throwing myself frantically forwards, I felt my knee slam against the metal frame I was in, sending shooting pain through my leg for only a moment. It disappeared with my next movement, the adrenaline pumping crazily through my body.

My right arm dragged beside me, a limp piece of sausage.

I managed to shove the little crab alien off the side, hearing it shriek on the way down and smash into the ground with a clicking sound. It was chittering wildly as I stood on top of the alien, sizing up my chances.

Ravage leaped up to the top of the alien, landing gracefully and hitting me with his shoulder. I swayed, feeling dizzy for a moment before shoving back. Ravage growled at me, and his tail slammed into my legs, forcing me down and into the chest cavern I had just crawled out of. The silver-red panther placed a warm paw over my shoulder, holding me down. I couldn't move my right still – Spider must have done something.

There was no blood though – well, it didn't look like a lot, at least in the flashes of vision that I could use. A part of me wondered why that was, even as I spied the medical officer clambering up the dead alien like a monkey, slipping from handgrip to handgrip, seeming to float up to me. My chest compressed; it felt like my heart was slamming against the edges of my lungs, forcing the air out of them, and causing the edges of my red-tinted vision to blacken.

The little spider danced up my chest, blades spinning. I felt my heart lurch in my chest, threatening to burst out.

My vision flickered out, leaving black. My breath hitched, and panic flared to life in my chest, chasing away all my bravado. I was blind again – and they were going to take my eyes.

* * *

**AN:** Just realized this is _another_ cliffhanger for you wonderful folks. Such a nice author I am.

Okay, I lied. No reviving Megs for you people. :D Hehehe.

So, this one was really hard to write – it is a pretty important milestone for Alex for more than one reason. She decides to be her own person, and she grows up more than a little. As a result, I slaved over this chapter like a maniac so that it would be perfect and portray her exactly like I want it to be. Which I think it did. But I'd love to hear your opinion on it. Not going to lie – I'm interested in how she's going to react to our favourite twins now. Anyone have any ideas?


	19. Curatio

**Chapter 19: Curatio**

(Latin:_attention / medical attention, healing, curing_)

* * *

**AN: **Some of you have contacted me, and been concerned about the lack of romance. Have patience, my grasshoppers. This isn't really primarily a romance story, hence the 'slow-build' and 'adventure' labels. But I assure you, I have it all planned out – romance is in the future.

And I know, some of you are going "Slow build, my fragging aft! This is like the creation of life on Mars!" My answer would be: "Yes!" Mainly because nothing even approaching romance has (in this AU) ever happened between 'bots and humans before. (Other than Sam and Bee, but that's not really here or now…) So of course it is going to take time. Not to mention Sunshine's human issues, and her whole character issues. So yes, it will take a while, but it is more realistic this way, and the end result will be much more satisfying.

* * *

My eyes squeezed shut, as if the pressure of the thin flaps of skin could stop Scalpel from taking my eyes.

If I survived this, my nightmares were going to be starring a new villain – he could join Sunstreaker in ripping me open.

I could only hear my heart pounding in my ears, the hot air washing off the saw that spun ever closer to my eyes. Or would he just rip them out with his pincers?

There was a sharp slicing pain across my right cheek, making me flinch backwards.

I could feel my fingers shaking; twitching with the urge to run away, escape, flee.

Suddenly, the restraints from my arm disappeared, violently. Claws slashed across the skin of my arm, leaving four gashes that stung momentarily.

The pain faded as I jerked sideways, trying to pull myself out of the hole. As I moved, I could hear the noise of energy weapons, and metal screeching against metal.

My vision was flickering, dancing in between flashes of the warehouse and blackness.

There was a brilliant red and blue alien who was nearly as tall as the warehouse, flanked by a black alien and a yellow one. For a moment, I was sure the yellow one was Sunstreaker until the flat feeling in my mind assured me that it wasn't.

The black one was shouting, gravelly voice deep and rough - Ironhide. "Fragging 'cons – you're going down!"

"Bumblebee, secure Alexandra!"

I missed if there was a reply in the increase of weapons firing and metal squealing. My heart was pounding, racing crazily. They had come for me – I was going to survive.

There was a thin shriek from beside me and then nothing.

Rumble was shooting back in flashes of blue and white. He was shouting back at the other aliens, presumably the Autobots.

Ravage was snarling, crouched down and letting the Autobots taste his cannons, mounted on his hindquarters.

I pulled my attention away from the battling aliens and focussed on crawling out of the dead alien. My right arm still wasn't working; my left was shaking wildly in trying to haul my whole body out of the hole.

I felt with my feet for spots to climb up and out, slipping a few times before making it. Once I made it out, I paused.

It was impossible to tell where I was going – and the fighting going on only let me know where contact was being made. The harsh screeching of metal drowned out the sound of my heart beating, and my harsh panting of breath.

Using the flickers of red-tinted vision, I moved my way towards the edge of the alien, feeling my foot slip off the slick metal a few times. My ankles twinged momentarily.

I heard Ravage growl out a few words. "Rumble, fall back."

The little doctor was nowhere to be seen.

The panther snarled at me as he leapt back, narrowly dodging a red shot that melted the wall.

I concentrated on escaping the slick metal trap of Megatron, swearing as a sharp edge ripped my skin on my left hand. The skin tingled sharply.

My head throbbed, spots of blackness dancing in my eyes.

A warm metal hand wrapped around my ribcage, making me jolt and beat at the hand harshly. Bob Marley blasted back at me.

"_Don't worry about a thing, 'Cause every little thing gonna be all right!"_

The song echoed around the warehouse, highlighting the lack of noise. There was no other weapon noises, and no crashing metal.

My face relaxed a little bit as the hand gently picked me up and placed me into the palm of the other hand, cupping me carefully before setting me on the ground. The whirl of transforming metal hit my ears, before the sound of a door opening hit my ears. I felt loose and numb, like I couldn't quite understand what had happened to me. I had escaped death, through no help of my own.

"_Drop the puck, it's time to go!" _The car blared at me.

I smiled slightly, feeling shaky and unsure if I was able to walk forwards without passing out. My heart was still pounding crazily, and I was breathing in short, shallow gasps. "You can't talk?"

"I can, but none of the humans can understand me." The British accent surprised me slightly – as far as I knew, none of the other aliens I knew had an accent. He continued with a short, snappy clip. _"__But you don't understand, or you won't understand."_

I stood shakily, and heard the engine rumble in front of me, guiding me to the door. I slipped inside. The seatbelt immediately clicked into place and the door shut. I couldn't tell if the car was moving or not – it was incredibly smooth.

"That must be quite difficult. That's why you use the songs, huh?" I felt disconnected from reality, like this wasn't quite real and I was just imagining this to keep my mind away from the little doctor ripping out my eyes.

"_You got it, baby, you got it!"_

"Why can't they understand you?"

"My vocal processor was damaged and Ratchet has been unable to fix it properly." The car shuddered around me slightly, warm leather quivering.

"_Why you have to go and make things so complicated?"_

"Ms. Alex, I am scanning some fluid leaks present on your skin and…abnormalities…" The car petered out, sounding concerned. Preaching to the choir, buddy. A song came on, about being in pain.

I frowned. "Why can I understand you then? Ratchet is messing with your vocal processor and I have blood all over me – that's because of Scalpel."

The car made a surprised, squealing sound, the song screeching to a halt, with the frame of the car seemingly rocking up and down like a child would in excitement. "You can truly understand me?"

I nodded, wondering why I was so calm. Perhaps the nausea and freaking out would just… kick in?

"Really? Even when I talk like this?"

I nodded again. "To me, it sounds like you're speaking English."

The car jittered again. "All this time, I have been speaking in Iaconian – well, the sparkling version of Iaconian. Amazing." He let loose with another song. I supposed that by this time, it was a habit – if he was used to communicating with songs with humans, it would take a while to drop the habit around me.

I banished the thought. I was leaving the base once Ratchet helped patch me up a bit, and I was going to find my family.

"So, your name is Bumblebee?"

"_And that's my name...and don't wear it out!"_

"Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming to get me."

"Ratchet was most insistent that we come to get you – in fact, the only reason he's not here right now is because the twins are pretty slagged."

A warm bubble in my chest. Ratchet cared about me. Then my doubts and insecurities washed back over me, making me clamp down.

Then concern. How injured were the twins?

I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking. After the first impulse passed, I leaned back in the seat, reassuring myself that the cold, dead metal of the other alien was nowhere near me. I wrapped my arms around my chest, frowning at the sticky feeling on my arms.

"How did you find me?"

"_Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs."_ It was like Bumblebee remembered that I could understand him again, and spoke.

"I scanned for the AllSpark, since my sensors are the most long-range scanners available since…" He trailed off sadly, and was quiet for a moment.

I wondered why his scan hadn't caused me pain, and decided that I must have been feeling so much else that it was just not noticed.

Tactfully, I changed the subject. Something must have happened to one of the aliens. My head buzzed, waves of dizziness washing over me.

"Where are we?"

"Kenya. Ratchet's back at base," he hesitated and then spoke again. "Ms. Alex, are you alright? You are still leaking fluids and possibly going into shock."

He was telling me I was bleeding all over his interior. I grimaced. "Sorry about that – I can clean the leather after?" I tried, feeling my eyes slip closed. It didn't matter – and it helped my headache ease a little bit. Tiny pinpricks of pain were dancing over my sides, with a slightly larger one in my shoulder.

They didn't have to come for me, but they did anyways. My nagging feeling made me think that they were just doing it because I might be the 'AllSpark.'

"That doesn't matter right now – how are you feeling? Sam is a strange human – he tends to hyperventilate and chatter to deal with stress."

There was a fond tone to the alien's voice when he spoke of Sam. Was Sam another human? An alien? His words made me think it was a human.

"No, I'm good. I might fall asleep pretty soon, once the adrenaline's worn off, but I'm fine. No pain."

My heart was still thumping wildly, fingers and skin tingling. My eyes were throbbing; I kept my eyes shut which seemed to alleviate the pain slightly. I felt almost dizzy – and sort of faint. But that was normal after such a harrowing experience, right?

Bumblebee sounded concerned. "From what I can tell, you should be in severe pain…"

"Other than my eyes, I'm fine."

I just wanted to sleep now, but a part of me was screaming in pain still, still trapped under that knife…

* * *

Bumblebee ran his internal sensors over the human, Ratchet's words about not scanning the human running through his processor. He was careful not to, even though the temptation was almost more than he could handle.

She was losing a lot of blood, from multiple wounds – her once-blue shirt was now dyed completely purple. That was definitely more than was healthy for a human, and he wasn't sure how much she had lost inside. There was also the appearance of her blood.

It was purple.

The quick internet scans he had run previously for Sam had clearly indicated that human blood was supposed to be red.

It was red due to the hemoglobin and iron, carrying oxygen.

Why was her blood purple?

The optics were a bright, bloody red as well – that wasn't normal for humans either. He'd accumulated a few terabytes of knowledge on normal and abnormal human biology to watch over Sam and Mikaela. Eyes were not supposed to be such a bright red colour – nearly Decepticon red. To see that in a human was, frankly, alarming.

He commed Ratchet. –Bumblebee to Ratchet. I have Alexandra Wells.-

Ratchet immediately commed back, sounding livid. –Primus fraggit, Bumblebee, send me data!-

Not a good time to get on the Hatchet's bad side. He immediately sent an image of the pale, bloody human back as well as the vital statistics he had gleaned. Elevated heart rate, dropping blood pressure, increased respiratory rate, decreased skin temperature and she was sweating.

-Slag, she's going into hypovolemic shock!- Ratchet bellowed. Bumblebee jerked, tires swerving left slightly.

Ratchet continued, sounding sharp, but calm. –Slag, I can't treat her here... the trip back to the base will take too long… Bumblebee, get her to the nearest human hospital.-

'Bee immediately recalculated, scanning the internet and his own sensors for the closest human dwelling large enough to have a hospital. There was one an hour away by normal driving. He could make it in a breem and a half if he hurried.

His engines roared.

"Ms. Alex, I'm taking you to a hospital, alright?" He said, wanting her to answer him.

She merely nodded, eyes still closed tight. He knew that she was blind and so it didn't make a difference if her eyes were closed or not, but he was used to driving with Sam and Mikaela – both of those humans kept their eyes open all the time.

He cranked up the music, trying to keep her awake.

-Frag, what I wouldn't give for some scans on her,- Ratchet grumbled. He seemed to make up his mind. –If she goes unconscious, scan her, Bumblebee,- he said, sounding intent.

It was amazing what their medic could do – he was doing surgery on two mechs, and telling what to do for a human as well. It wasn't the first time that he'd been amazed by their medic, and in awe of his skills.

-Once she's stabilized in a human hospital, we're bringing her back to base. Just get the medics to put a few pints of human blood into her.-

Bumblebee sped up, passing a grey van.

-Understood.-

* * *

Ratchet scowled, feeling his millions of vorns. For the moment, both of the idiots were in stasis, resting on two of his berths peacefully, faces slightly scrunched up in pain still – but there was nothing he could do about spark pain.

Sunstreaker was nearly scrapped to the Pit, as was his twin. The fragging morons – did they have to leap helm-first into every situation that came along? Part of him knew it was because of Alex, and the stress that the unusual connection was putting on their systems. This, in a way, was one of the healthiest outlets – release all that anger and stress on to the 'cons.

Sunstreaker had lost the replaced left leg, again. His chest armor had been all ripped up too, and he'd dislocated a joint in his shoulder – that part was quite easy to fix. He'd fixed it, not happy with the butter yellow twin, but not able to slack his duty in his job either. He couldn't leave them injured – it went against his coding.

The chest armor had been more pressing – it had been quite close to his spark, and something like that could be quite dangerous, the fragging glitch.

Sideswipe had lost his left hand – it looked like it had been wrenched off by something. Sideswipe had joked that Sunny flattened it with his aft on a landing.

He'd also ripped out a backstrut somehow – again with the Sunstreaker landing on it, which the golden twin had glared at him for. If the yellow twin had been able to move, he would have probably slugged his counterpart.

The backstrut would take a lot more time to repair, so he'd offlined the two for the time being, needing them to be in stasis while their systems were repaired.

Idiots.

How much longer was it going to take to get Alexandra Wells away from the 'cons? He'd scanned for AllSpark energy, and that was how they were able to locate her – the 'cons had probably not planned for the 'Spark to be in a live organism, which changed the biomechanics enough so that it would take longer for the energy to transfer.

His spark clenched.

Alex.

She'd been out of his med-bay for close to nine hours, and he'd had no idea that she was even gone. Negligence at its highest. Ironhide had told him that she was considered an adult among her people, so it was alright that he didn't know where she was all the time – in cruder language, of course.

But he still felt responsible – he couldn't help it. She looked up to him, to tell her what was going on, to protect her from the morons, to even let her know what time it was.

She depended on him, and he'd let her down.

And to add insult to injury – the 'cons managed to nab her in that tiny timeframe, neater than Mirage sniping a retrofox.

It was embarrassing – and infuriating.

He'd never let her out of sight again, when she was back. Washing the rest of the idiot's energon off the floor was calming; peaceful. Just what he needed right now.

Scrubbing the floor harshly, he mumbled under his breath various epithets – some for the twins in his care, and other, more poignant ones for the 'cons.

The next mech to walk into his bay was going to get a wrench, right in the denta.

If the twins had been awake, they'd have been cowering in fear.

Bumblebee commed in, and immediately, he was inquiring after Alex, planning to do a very thorough physical of Bumblebee's wing panels if he didn't tell him what was going on with Alex.

And when Alex got back in here, he was going to scan her – knock her out, have Sideswipe suck her in, whatever it took.

He snapped at the scout to send him data, and what he did have wasn't reassuring. The human was definitely in shock – eyes closed, face pale and skin temperature decreased. From the amount of blood – more purple than before, he noted, which was consistent with the scanned information – it had to be hypovolemic shock.

Throwing his instructions to Bumblebee, he was happy to note the scout immediately did as he asked, and didn't dither about like the idiot twins – not the ones in his bay (although they were idiots too) – would have.

His spark clenched again, guilt flooding him. It was his fault that she was in this position. If he had just kept her safe, in his med bay where nothing bad could happen, none of this would have happened.

* * *

I woke up, smelling a sharp antiseptic smell. Hospital.

I ran a mental check, flexing each area slightly to make sure I could feel all my parts still. The feeling of small metal claws ran up my stomach, making my eyes flare open and a flicker of vision to dance before disappearing to thick blackness.

I was in no pain – they must have me on some pretty fantastic drugs.

There was something in my left arm, about halfway up. I ran my fingers up to it, feeling the IV site.

I twitched my fingers again, something niggling at me.

A few ideas hit me all at once. I could move my right hand – the arm that had resembled sausage only hours ago – or had it been a lot longer? I could have been in a coma for months, and all my injuries healed while I was unconscious.

I stretched, raising my arms above my head and sighing. It was quiet in here – but I could hear the noises of the nurses out in the hall, shoes and carts clicking on the linoleum floor.

There was something on my face. I slipped my fingers up, feeling a rough bandage on my right cheek, stretching from my jawline to nearly my temple. There was no pain, so I disregarded it.

Another thought dropped into my head. Where were the 'bots? I thought I could remember one from before – Ironhide and two others. One had taken me – it had been yellow, and I had thought, '_Sunstreaker_' but it wasn't, it was… Bumblebee. Right.

So, where were they? Had they just ditched me in this hospital?

Great.

I listened intently for a nurse to come into my room, but none were. Time to see where I was, get some answers and get out.

I was fine.

Which was insane, and crazy, but it was the truth – I was fine.

Actually, I felt sort of funny – giddy and jittery and sort of empty.

Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I sat up, feeling my head whirl around a little bit, before settling down.

They had catheterized me again, the tube snaking up my leg. I pulled on it slightly, feeling a slight twinge of pain. I followed the tube down and grabbed the little bag it was attached to, unclipping it and hauling it up and over, to attach to the IV. I wanted to go for a walk.

Something rubbed on my arms and body. Running my fingers over the area, I could feel the slightly pulling sensation of cloth. Was it bandages? I ran my fingers over the things again, noting how they traversed my whole torso, as well as all around my arm and felt the slight tugging sensation of gauze catching on my fingers.

A sense of déjà vu hit me, and I remembered the last time I had gone for a walk in a hospital, ending in a cry against Liam's chest as he held me.

My stomach clenched, but I forced away the rush of emotion. I was fine on my own – I didn't need anyone else.

Sliding the IV back and forth, I contemplated just ripping it out. It was pretty much pointless to have one, right? They stuck one in everybody in hospitals. I gripped the little plastic thing and tugged hard, feeling it come out with little resistance. Some hair probably got ripped off, but that was no issue compared to other pain I had suffered.

Warm liquid trailed down my arm, so I stuffed my gown against the area, feeling it become warm as well. How much was a little area like that supposed to bleed?

As I picked up my catheter bag, a nurse came in.

She chattered away in a different language – I had no idea what she was saying. It sounded like gibberish.

_Where_ had Bumblebee dropped me off to?

Suddenly, there was a voice in the room – one that talked to the nurse in the same language. They spoke for a few moments, while the nurse fretted over my arm and took my catheter bag from me.

She made me lie down again, chattering to this other person the whole while.

Then the other person spoke, in a way that I could understand.

"Alexandra Wells, I am Optimus Prime, here to take you back to base. Address me as Doctor Prime here, please."

I frowned. "How do I know you are who you say you are?"

If this was a Decepticon, there was no freaking way I was going anywhere with him.

"Ask me a question."

My mind raced. The Decepticons knew I was mentally bonded to the twins, so that was out, and they had Ratchet's files on me. Would asking him if could speak to Ratchet and the twins work? I knew I could identify their voices, but the Decepticons would have sound recordings of them too.

The Decepticons hadn't known I could see though – perhaps it wasn't in Ratchet's report of me?

I'd have to take the chance. No one at base knew enough about me – other than Ratchet. Yeah.

"Let me talk to Ratchet," I said, sounding firm.

"Very well." There was a moment of silence, and then Ratchet's crusty tone filled the room.

"Optimus, what is it? Is Alex in trouble? Frag it, she should be good by now – from the-"

His concern warmed my heart. I interrupted him.

"Hey Ratchet."

"Alex." It was amazing that a mechanical voice could convey so many emotions – concern, relief, anger and guilt, all at once.

"I'm just checking that this really is Opti- I mean, Dr. Prime, here to pick me up."

"Of course it's Optimus." The medic sounded crusty, like he couldn't quite believe I was wasting his time with this, and sounding relieved to hear my voice.

"I just want to be sure."

There was a beat of silence. "I understand perfectly. Ask away – I'm busy."

"Which group took me?"

"Government, S7." His reply was prompt.

"Which one hurt me?"

"Sideswipe and then Sunstreaker," he growled out, sounding feral.

"What did you ask me to call you when I first met you?"

"Dr. Ratch."

I smiled slightly, now believing it was definitely him.

"Okay. I believe it is you, _Dr. Prime_," I stressed.

Time to go home.

"Can you get the nurse to take this thing-" I tugged at the catheter "-out, and then get me back to the States?"

Prime paused for a moment. "Ratchet would like to scan you and make sure you are fine."

I nodded, expecting that from the overprotective medical alien.

"We will speak more on the way back."

I frowned. What if Ratchet never let me back out? Optimus Prime left the room, presumably to get the nurse to remove my catheter.

Then I bit my lip as the nurse came back in and started removing the catheter. It was unpleasant so I distanced my mind from it.

Would I abandon all faith in the one who hadn't let me down yet, through four long, hard months?

Had I become that cynical and untrusting, not taking anything that anyone said at face-value? Jace would joke that I was becoming a politician.

No. I'd keep faith in Ratchet until he gave me a reason to not trust him, I decided as I shoved my legs into pants and wrangled my way into a shirt.

And he'd let me leave – I had to have faith in Ratchet.

"So, why wasn't Bumblebee the one to bust me out?" I asked on the way out, feeling my legs hold steady and firm. They'd made me sign some papers, after giving me Braille ones to read, basically stating that I was checking out, of my own accord and that there was no legal liability to that hospital.

_Dr. Prime_ was holding my arm, skin warm.

"Bumblebee cannot communicate with humans like the rest of us can – Megatron damaged his vocal processor in a battle."

"Wait, _Megatron_ did? Like, the guy they were trying to revive, leader of the Decepticons?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, the processor is a very delicate mechanism and Ratchet has been unable to fully return its functionality."

"But he can speak Cybertronian, right?"

"Yes, although his ability in that is also limited."

I nodded as I walked.

"What is this thing-" I tapped the human walking beside me, "-even made of? How does it work?"

Dr. Prime sighed. "It is complicated, and better left to one such as Ratchet to explain. Essentially, it is a very clever illusion, to not alarm sentient life forms we come across in our travels."

"Why was I in the hospital?"

"From what Ratchet reported to me, you lost too much blood and needed to have a transfusion."

"How long have I been in here?" I jerked a thumb upwards, feeling pretty good walking with the alien. He seemed pretty nice. So far, it actually seemed like my luck was to get stuck with the most sociopathic and sneaky aliens on the Autobot side.

"Less than four hours," Prime replied, carefully steering me around something in my path. We came outside.

It was hot and muggy; I could smell salt on the air. Close to the sea, then.

Maybe they weren't all like that.

Rumble's words echoed in my head, mixing with Sideswipe's and Sunstreaker's.

_We lost our whole fragging planet. _

_But it's gone. Forever. _

A different voice spoke, soft and calm. I didn't recognize it, but instinctively knew it meant me no harm.

_Refugees among the stars, even among others. Would you deny them a home?_

Somehow, it didn't sound like it was _just_ taking about the aliens living on the planet.

Stupid voice.

My subconscious had a point though, in dragging those memories up. I had lost my family, sure. But my whole planet? Millions of lives?

Fighting an eternal war, watching your comrades fall and die after millions of years of friendship? Never seeing new lives being created? Feeling empty inside because your home planet – the one you have an intrinsic connection to – has been destroyed by war?

Suddenly, my life didn't look all that bad. I was still on earth, I wasn't in a war (well, not really), and my family migh-no, my family _was_ still alive.

I couldn't speak for all of them, but the ones other than the twins were actually pretty decent. They were nothing like the Decepticons who had ripped me open, or even the humans who had done the same.

Decepticons in human skin. The idea was easier to process than it should have been.

Bumblebee with his quirky humor and easy excitement; Ratchet with his insane devotion to all the aliens under his care and to me; Optimus' understanding and diplomacy to humanity (that couldn't be an easy job).

And even the twins, I supposed. They were completely and utterly devoted to one another. They'd do anything for each other – and that was what made them so deadly. There was absolutely _nothing_ that they wouldn't do for each other. Even if it meant selling out their side, or killing for each other.

It might be scary to have someone that you were _that_ devoted to, and who was utterly devoted to you as well. A double-edged sword.

I wondered why they were on the side of the Autobots, if all they cared about was each other. It hit me. They were just as complex as a human – perhaps more, with millions of years to develop philosophies on life. It could be as selfish as the Autobots having better paint for Sunstreaker, or as complicated as wanting to protect due to past history.

Humans as bad as Decepticons; worse, even. Autobots that acted like Decepticons. Decepticons with loyalty far greater than humanity.

In the end, it really mattered on the actions that one took, not what the race was.

_Finally, little one, finally,_ the voice whispered again, sounding proud.

Once I got Ratchet to scan me, and say that I was fine, I was going to go home and look for my family.

I felt positive, upbeat and raring to go. It was time to really start, start who I was and what I was supposed to be in this life.

"Are you alright, Alexandra?"

I nodded once, feeling my heart swell up.

"I'm fine, I just want to go home."

There was a slight pause, and I knew exactly why.

He was wondering what I considered home – back at the base, with the Autobots, or where I actually lived with my family.

I wanted my family back.

"Home, as in, the States, Nevada. I want to go _home_."

I needed to find my family, get them back from the government.

It might be impossible, but I was going to give it my best shot, best as I could.

Something nudged the back of my legs and I heard a car engine, along with a horn beep once.

"Hey Bumblebee."

There was a slight clip. "_Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away,"_ Frank Sinatra sang out. I snickered once.

"Sounds good to me – I've had enough of hospitals to last me a lifetime."

I clambered in, the smell of clean leather and oil and a faint, tingly smell making me tense slightly. Then I relaxed completely, muscles going limp and loose when the seat started vibrating, massaging muscles that I hadn't even known were sore.

As the car accelerated out of the parking lot, I fell asleep, feeling safe and secure.

* * *

-Bumblebee to Ratchet. I'm thirty astroseconds out, Ms. Alex is safe and secure.-

He opened the small data packet the scout sent to him, grumbling as he scanned through it swiftly. She was in stasis at the moment, but the vital signs looked decent. It would be a few more weeks before she was fully recovered, but he'd be here with her for the entire ordeal.

-That's fantastic,- the medic grouched. –She's unconscious, send me a scan, fraggit!- He barked out.

The scout flinched back a little, and then responded sharply. –Of course, Ratchet.-

Twenty astroseconds later, the scan data was sitting in his processor. He opened it, and immediately started grumbling at the results.

Her biochemistry was all warped. There was quite a bit of cube energy in her signal, as well as signs of the twins.

The yellow Camaro raced into the med bay, skidding to a stop, tires squealing on the pavement. Immediately, Ratchet nearly hauled the door off so that he could pull the girl out.

Ratchet had to physically hold his scanning programming at bay. As well as his wrench – the impulse to knock her out so that he could complete the scanning programming was almost overwhelming. He did as much as he could when he saw her – noting pupil size, sweating, body temperature, respirations and movement. From what he could see, she was fine.

There was a mass of white bandages over the girl's body, wrapped around her right arm and torso, hindering her walking slightly. She didn't seem to be in any pain though – her face was calm and smooth, slightly frowning but not wincing.

The medic frowned as he looked into her optics – they were a bright, brilliant red, edging on to a maroon colour. The sclera, which was normally white, was also red, causing her to look … wrong.

The colour was nearly comparable to a Decepticon's optics.

-Bumblebee, is this how they were before?-

-Yes, they've been like that since I got her from the 'cons,- the scout explained.

He moved towards her, seeing her head tilt to the side slightly, long organic material on her head – hair – falling down to nearly her waist.

The girl stirred, eyes opening up and looking around. Ratchet nearly recoiled for a moment, almost transforming his arm into a saw. Her eyes were brilliantly red, like a Decepticon's. It was his fault – everything that had happened to her since she was taken. It was his fault.

"Ratchet?" She said, voice slightly slurred from sleep.

"Alex. I need to scan you," he said, already deliberating how to get the scan the best way. Should he wake up one of the idiots and have her mentally take refuge with them? Or should he- She cut off his rambling processor programs.

"Fine. Knock me out, but make sure that it isn't for too long, okay? I want to leave soon."

"Leave?" Ratchet felt his servo clench, metal creaking. She had just come back, and now was leaving? "I haven't cleared you medically, and until then, you aren't leaving."

She snorted slightly – a noise she seemed to have picked up from him – and crossed her arms. Immediately, he was assessing whether she was too thin or not – it was clear that her BMI had decreased slightly since his last scan.

The programs itched to be released again, to scan the human.

The yellow car started to creep out of the med bay, but was halted by the sudden dent appearing in the wall beside him.

"You need a scan too, you fragging glitch head," Ratchet snapped, hefting another wrench.

The scout transformed, and rubbed his helm sheepishly. _"Bad, bad medicine, I don't need no needle," _the young Cybertronian shrilled, edging towards the exit again.

"Bumblebee, park your aft on a berth _now_," the medic growled, sharp optics locked on that little rascal. The scout's doorwings drooped, and his pedes dragged on the way to the berth, where he sat down, digits locked together.

Once he was sure Bumblebee was listening, he growled once more, and turned back to the human. She was smiling slightly, a faint upturning of the lips.

"Alex, you said you want to leave?"

"Yes, leave. I need to go home, and find my family; I've spent far too long here already."

She was standing up to the twins? A small glow of pride in his spark. About time, from the sounds of things. And those idiots needed more 'bots (and humans) to stand up to them.

"When?" He asked, processor sending up all sorts of warnings and alerts to the medic that he needed to scan the human, _now._

"As soon as possible. There's really no point in me staying here, after all. The twins only need me to be around once in a while to help meld their minds, I think. At least, that's the feeling I get."

She was right.

She continued. "I need to find my family."

Ratchet felt his faceplates mesh together, and he hauled out his wrench. The idiots hadn't gotten their punishment yet – when they were brought online again, and Optimus came back, then they'd be properly dealt with.

"You will be pursued by the Decepticons – your energy signal is synonymous with the AllSpark."

She paused, before nodding. "Yeah, I thought that might happen. But I'm not the AllSpark."

That was still to be determined. He clenched his wrench tighter. "Is the voice you mentioned earlier still talking to you?"

Another pause. "Yeah." She sounded soft and hesitant, like she wasn't sure about his reaction. Was she scared of him?

"Is Optimus Prime back yet?" she asked.

He shook his helm – a human habit – before responding. "No, he had to discuss with government officials before coming back to this base."

She hesitated a moment again. "The twins are here – how are they?" Her face scrunched up, like she wasn't sure why she had asked about the pains-in-the-aft.

"They're fine, the slagging morons," he growled, smacking his wrench on to Sideswipe's pede and watching the metal dent and crunch downwards. Served the moron right.

The human girl nodded, and took a deep breath, before seeming to decide something. She looked up, and seemed to make eye-to-optic contact with him, red eyes gleaming. "I want to go home, Ratchet. As soon as possible."

He growled lowly, systems churning and processor whirling. She wasn't healthy enough to leave the med bay, fraggit! And only yesterday she'd been tortured by Decepticons… Blue optics sharpened on the human, _needing_ even more to scan her and see the damage in a scan.

"Alex! Sit down, don't strain the wounds!" Sometimes, he forgot about how soft humans were – they weren't like mechs in the way that they could stand up for hours, or not recharge for orns. Humans were so fragile, and he'd forgotten. Guilt swamped his processor again.

She waved a hand, lazily, unaware of his guilt.

"I'm fine, Ratchet. Whatever they did at the hospital was great."

He knew that they had only bandaged the wounds, given her a mild antibiotic and transfused three packets of blood. Not all that much for what had happened. She should be in severe pain, barely able to move.

Fraggit, he needed to scan her.

Bumblebee warbled pathetically, a sparkling's plea to be released.

He chucked another wrench in the direction of the scout, optics still on the human child. He made sure that it didn't _hit_ Bumblebee, just grazed the tip of one sensitive doorwing.

Immediately, the yellow Camaro was silent.

"I just want to go home. And find my family." Her voice was strong, stance unyielding.

Ratchet stiffened as Optimus commed him. -We have located Alexandra Well's family.-

* * *

**AN: **Yay for formal!Bee! Haha, he's such a sweetheart. Since this is Bayverse, he's not quite the same as the cartoons. But he's actually a lot of fun, mostly because what he says and what he does aren't always the same. You know? Lubricating on Simmons, dragging them off to the makeout site, and then all "I wish to stay with the boy," – sort of at odds with each other. I feel like he's a formal talker, and his actions are not so much.

I love Ratchet. His processor is so… um… interesting. As are his patient methods. Sometimes I wish I had an unlimited supply of wrenches.

Is she taking this oddly? Yes, yes she is! Any ideas what's going on?

I don't own Bob Marley, Dropkick Murphy, The Vaccines, Family Force Five, Green Day, Telsa, Bon Jovi, or Frank Sinatra.


	20. Invenit

**Chapter 20: Invenit**

(Latin: _found_)

* * *

**AN: **Hey guys. So, this chapter right here marks the 1/3 completion of the story. Crazy, huh?

I have the best reviewers in the world. :) But you guys knew that already, right?

Something kind of interesting (to me at least…) Today is March 20, and I'm posting the 20th chapter. I also turned 20 yesterday. Sort of cool, right?

* * *

Ratchet was quiet for a moment, which was unusual for the grouchy and noisy medical officer.

After that, he spoke, quietly. "Alex. We've located your family."

My breath caught in my throat and for a moment, I thought he was lying. Although he had no reason to lie about that.

My pessimistic side spoke up. _What a coincidence that they find them right after you get free. What are the chances that right after you decide to go and look for them, they are found?_

I shook them away. That didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that my family was found, and that I could go and see them.

"Tell me about my family!" I nearly shouted. "How are they? Where are they? How's Jace? Has he been up to his hacking again?" The questions spewed from my mouth wildly, not waiting for an answer.

I gave myself a mental pep-talk. _That's it girl, be selfish; stand up for yourself!_

Ratchet sighed once, a strange sound that sounded like the air conditioning in a car turning on high for a moment.

"They think you are in witness protection; most likely due to Sector Seven, the fragging virus-ridden glitches," Ratchet growled out.

I blinked. "Sector Seven? Witness protection?"

"Witness protection works well for us, considering that if the 'cons come looking for you, you can disappear quickly," Ratchet mused.

"What's Sector Seven?" I asked, before shaking my head quickly. "No, never mind. Tell me about my family."

"They are in Kentucky, where they have been for the past three months. Their names have changed, to Mr. William Field and Mrs. Marion Field. They have one son, who is reportedly off at university. Your father works as an accountant, and your mother works in a flower shop."

Kentucky? Accountant? Where was Jace? Macy?

Ratchet sighed again. "It took this long to locate your family because our primary hacker was… deactivated in the battle with Megatron."

Something clenched inside of me. Clearly, one of their own had died in killing Megatron. How terrible.

"And my family – when can I go to see them? I want to go now!"

Ratchet huffed, working himself up into a proper ranting frenzy. "You only got out of the hospital yesterday; you are in no way recovered enough to-"

"Yesterday? What time is it?" I interjected. Had I slept that long inside Bumblebee?

"It's nearly seven AM in this time zone. Optimus Prime will be back at base in an hour."

I nodded. Ratchet took that split-second to launch himself into ranting-mode.

"You were nearly killed! If I had my way, I'd lock you in the med bay with the other two idiots, just so that I could keep an optic on you! Barely longer than a joor, and you managed to get taken by the Decepticons – would you willingly run into Unicron's servos?!"

I had to bite my lip to keep my smile from seeping out. How could I have doubted Ratchet?

"I missed you too," I whispered, before feeling my throat get tight and hot. My eyes welled up and a few hot tears spilled over. I placed a hand where I _knew_ his leg to be, feeling warm metal, thrumming under my fingertips.

Ratchet was silent for a moment, before gruffly muttering something about cleaning a wrench and locking me into a box. Good ol' Ratchet.

There was a crunch of metal. Suddenly, a finger was poking me in the stomach. A large, warm and metal finger. Tingles raced through my body with each contact.

"Hmfh. You haven't been eating enough," Ratchet reprimanded.

I laughed lightly, feeling a few more tears slip down my face. "It's fine, Ratchet."

"It's not fragging fine!" The medic exploded, snatching me up in his hand, and moving down the hall.

I clutched his fingers tightly, but trusting him implicitly. He wouldn't drop me. I trusted Ratchet. He'd told me that my family was back!

Excitement swelled in me again. My family was alive, they were fine, and I was going to see them again!

Ratchet was ranting as we walked, but I wasn't really listening. My vision was flickering in and out, from shots of a red-tinted yellowed arm to blue-tinted halls. I was going to see my family! They had survived!

My thoughts spiralled downwards. Had the government guys – Sector Seven had to be their name – tortured them like they had to me? I didn't want that to happen to them – I wanted them to be perfectly safe, happy and not have any mental or physical scarring from the ordeal.

If they had hurt them, I was going to do everything in my power to hurt them. As badly as I could.

I knew immediately when we were in the med bay. And I knew that both of the twins were in here with me as well.

But their thoughts were really… dull, almost like they were asleep. And since Sideswipe wasn't chattering incessantly in my mind, and there wasn't any homicidal thoughts, it was safe to assume that they were unconscious.

Ratchet's fingers let go of me, setting me on one of the tables. I sat down, pulling my knees to my chest. He was muttering something, loudly. There was banging and clattering of metal, making me jump slightly.

The metal footsteps came closer, before Ratchet's voice came to me.

"I've refrained this long, but my programming can't take it anymore. I need to scan you, as soon as possible."

I spread my arms wide, and tilted my head to the side, before pointing at a spot on my skull.

"Hit me with your best shot, Doctor."

There was a gruff muttering about naïve humans.

"Oh! How is Bumblebee?" I asked, remembering how Ratchet had wanted him to stick around so that he could be scanned.

"He's fine, the little glitch."

"Good," I said emphatically. I was going to accept each Cybertronian I came across and judge them as I would people. They were so much like people that it would be rude, and downright prejudiced to judge them all on my first two meetings.

So far, Bumblebee and Ratchet were in my good books.

Optimus too, but I didn't know him all that well yet. And with any luck, that wouldn't be changing.  
I could hear the footsteps stop right in front of me.

There was a rhythmic thumping and a slight whistling of air past metal. I paled. Was he practicing swings with the infamous wrench? He'd really only have to flick me with a finger to knock me out.

"Uh… on second thought-" I stammered.

Ratchet snorted slightly. "You sure you want to be knocked unconscious and not go int-"

"No," I cut him off. "I'm sure. Do it." I pointed to my skull again. "Just make sure that I wake up again, okay?"

Ratchet grumbled again.

Then something touched a point on my skull, gently, and there was a faint floating sensation before I knew nothing.

* * *

Ratchet commed Optimus after his scan was complete and he'd had a chance to look at the data.

-_Ratchet to Optimus.-_

_-What is it, old friend?-_

_-Alexandra's family… how far away are they?-_

_-They are in the United States of America, in the state known as Kentucky.-_

He grumbled for a moment while wondering how to best phrase his thoughts. _–Optimus, I don't want her leaving my medical bay yet.-_

_-From your previous report, all she needed was human blood, and rest for her wounds. Has she not recovered sufficiently?-_

He _knew_ where Optimus was going with this one. _–Her wounds are healing at an accelerated rate, and her hemoglobin levels are within normal limits, although on the low side. Frag it, Optimus, I want to make sure she doesn't have any neurological damage.-_

_-She will want to go home immediately, you know this Ratchet.-_

_-I know, Optimus, But I want to observe her for a while longer.-_

_-I understand your concern, old friend. However, your medical report labels her as stable, physically if not mentally. Perhaps time with her family will heal her more than we ever could.-_

_-I don't like this, Optimus,- _Ratchet growled out. He'd failed her once. To fail her again would be…

-_It was not your fault, old friend.-_ The Prime seemed to crunch right to the heart of the matter instantly.

The guilt rose up again. _–If I only had watched her more carefully, this wouldn't have fragging happened.-_

_-Ratchet, she is considered an adult in this world. She makes her own choices, much like any of us.-_

He was silent, clearly disagreeing with Prime. This was his fault, frag it all.

* * *

He was here with me, claws sinking into my stomach. I writhed, trying to pull away. It was no use.

I could feel the claws, wrapping around my heart, pulling and tugging and _ripping_, pulling it out of me.

I tried to shriek, but it was muffled, voice unable to make a sound. How could I escape if I couldn't move or speak? I was helpless, trapped. My heart was throbbing, clenched between the claws of a monster, red eyes spitting fire into my chest, burning and sizzling.

There was a moment of quiet then, and a voice spoke. I couldn't understand them, but the feeling of being watched over and safe wouldn't leave me. My nightmare was gone.

When I woke up, my head felt fine. All of me felt fine – it must have been long enough that the residual pain of the scan didn't hurt any more.

I couldn't really remember my dreams. I knew that the little horror – Scalpel – had been in them, but after that, it was just a blur.

I stretched, and then froze. Was Optimus back yet? Would he talk to me about going home?

Even if I had to sneak out of here in a trunk, I was leaving. I was going home, and seeing my family again. They had to be okay. If they weren't, then my whole purpose in staying with the twins was moot.

I sat up, able to hear Ratchet's muttering about actuators and exhaust ports.

He seemed to hear my slight breathing, because he called out to me.

"Alex? How do you feel?"

"Fine," I said, because it was true. I felt great, actually. No weird pains, no strange aches in my muscles. My eyes hurt a bit, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.

"What did you find out in the scans?" I wondered. Normally I didn't care what was going on in my body, but this was a special case. Who knew what the Decepticons had done to me?

Perhaps it was just morbid curiosity, but I needed to know.

"You still scan of the AllSpark," he paused for a moment, and then continued darkly. "And the twins, the virus-ridden half-bits that they are."

My face scrunched slightly – connection to the twins, yuck. "Why do I scan as them?"

There was a crash of metal and dark mutterings about letting certain sports cars rust. And something about paint thinner.

"From what I can tell, it is due to the bond being warped, and you having some energon from both of them."

I recalled each instance with perfect clarity. Sideswipe, in the café, and Sunstreaker in the torture lab.

The medic seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then spoke. "Alex, you are no longer scanning as entirely human. In fact, the only scans that work on you are ones that must be used for Cybertronians. Your DNA is changing, more rapidly than before."

I gawped. "My DNA? Is changing? Like with AIDS?"

There was another moment of silence; presumably for him to look up what AIDS was.

"In a way. However, I do not know what this is changing you _to._ Already, your eyes have changed. You can see."

I nodded. "And the voice, with the whole _fix it_ gig."

"Yes. And that," Ratchet growled darkly. "Since the AllSpark has been in your body, you've been changing at an accelerated rate."

"How accelerated?" I asked, feeling my heart thud. What if I turned into a freak?

_Too late for that_, my little pessimistic voice whispered. Then it was like I went even more crazy, and the little voices had a showdown – the soft, reedy one who was prone to fixing seemed to beat the crap out of the pessimist.

_What happens, happens for a reason,_ the little voice soothed.

Yeah, I was so a freak already.

"Your wounds show accelerated healing, and soon the bandages can come off. That isn't fragging normal for a human either." He sounded despairing; knowing he could only tell me what was happening. No one had any control over what was happening in my body.

I changed the subject.

"How long until Optimus arrives?"

There was a few moments of silence. "Around twenty of your minutes," Ratchet finally replied.

I nodded. "What are you doing?"

Ratchet moved back across the room, and banged on something metal.

One of the twins, my mind helpfully supplied.

"Fixing these slag-heads," he snapped, the sounds of metal being abused reaching my ears.

"Why are they still uh, unconscious?" I asked.

"I have them in forced stasis for the moment, so that I can finish repairs. Sideswipe blew a backstrut and ripped off a servo, and Sunstreaker managed to get his chassis all scratched up. It takes time to make repairs like this, the fragging idiots! And if I let them come online now, they'll be leaving bits and pieces of themselves all over the fragging base."

I smiled. Ratchet totally liked the twins. I didn't, but in a way it was good to know that they weren't alone together. That someone else cared for them, other than just themselves.

Everyone should have someone to care about them.

"If you need to talk to someone about what happened, I'm here." Ratchet's voice was soft and low, like he wasn't sure why he was telling me this, or didn't want anyone to know he had a softer side.

I nodded, and resolved to keep it to myself. That didn't even last ten minutes – Ratchet managed to make me spill everything right away. Somehow, I ended up spilling my revelations about the twins, and Cybertronians in general to the crusty medic. He was silent during my whole spiel, and once it was over, I was surprised by how much better I felt.

He didn't say anything, and I appreciated that. I hadn't said it so that he would comment on it; I'd said it so that it would be off my chest. That, and the voice in my head was practically screaming at me to say it, for whatever reason.

The little voice was annoying, but it seemed to be the best thing I was getting (other than the sporadic vision).

Ratchet stopped and was silent, just as small alarms went off in the base. I still didn't know exactly where this base was, but it was hot and muggy here too.

"Optimus Prime is back – I'll take you to speak with him."

He carried me to a massive, echoing room. I could tell, just from the way that this alien was speaking that he was really important. His voice was deep and I knew that I'd heard it before.

It was sort of weird and surreal, debating and deliberating with the leader of the aliens. I guessed that I was getting to know him more too – just my luck.

We'd been at this for a few minutes now, and it seemed to be going nowhere. He would not budge on the issue of me not having any guardians. I was against it – I didn't need aliens watching over me. And he thought I did, because I was 'the AllSpark.'

"I want to leave, and go by myself to see my family."

"If you leave with no Autobots to watch over you, it will be very dangerous for you and your family. I cannot condone that."

I bit my bottom lip, eyes downcast. Prefereably, I could just go home. But taking some of the aliens with me would mean that I'd either have to come back here or that they'd leave at some point.

So far, I had no plans to come back, even though a rational part of me knew that at some point, I'd have to come back just so that I could get checked out by Ratchet, or so that the twins wouldn't lose their minds. When I had taken that quick peek into their minds, it had been evident that the connection between the two was vital to their survival.

Who was I to disrupt them? To destroy their bond? But why did it have to be me? There was nothing special about me – I was just some human that Sunstreaker couldn't even speak the name of.

I gave myself a vicious mental slap. I was not just some human – I was a human with emotions and feelings, like any of the others living on this planet. Our planet.

"I understand. But I do not want to have the Autobots with me."

Their leader sounded concerned. "Ms. Wells, I cannot, in good conscience, allow you to leave while the Decepticons are still looking for you."

I nodded my head. "I get it, I really do. But that doesn't change my wishes, and I want to go to them, immediately."

Why was Prime fighting me on this? I needed to go home!

"Look, Optimus, I want to see my family. I haven't seen them for over four months!"

"I understand. But I cannot allow you to be unsafe."

"If I want to go, it's my prerogative. You cannot legally hold me here!" I said, fists tight.

"I do not wish to come across as the bad guy, Ms. Wells."

"Alex, please. And I just want to go home, but not with the twins."

"By twins, you mean Sunstreaker and Sideswipe," Prime finished, sounding dark and slightly dangerous.

I nodded sharply, grateful those two were still being kept in stasis by Ratchet. The last thing I needed was for them to be in my head, wondering why I didn't want them along (Sideswipe) and being silent and moody (Sunstreaker).

"As a compromise, I will send Jolt, along with Skids and Mudflap along to protect you."

"Three? Seems like overkill," I said, thanking the heavens that Optimus Prime wasn't an idiot like the two I was mentally saddled with.

"We cannot keep you here, but I cannot allow you to leave without adequate protection. The Decepticons will be searching ruthlessly for you, now that they know you contain the energy of the AllSpark. Three Autobots is the least that we can send with you."

Yet another fantastic thing that happened to me.

"I get it. That sounds… okay." Better would be no alien bodyguards, but seeing my family would more than make up for having three of them stalking me around.

"What about 'Bee, or Ratchet?"

"Ratchet is our Chief Medical Officer – it would be unwise to take him from the base when one of our warriors could come back needing his skills. Bumblebee already has a human ward, by the name of Samuel Witwicky."

"Wikity?" I was slightly sad that neither of the aliens that I had bonded more with were able to help me, but I understood.

"Samuel Witwicky was instrumental in our defeat of Megatron in Mission City."

"So this Witwicky helped take down Megatron? Woah, that's… amazing." It was, really. A human, helping take down even a small alien like Ravage would be insane. But that giant one that I had stood in the chest of? That was truly amazing.

"He is a brave young man. I am proud to call him an ally."

"Wow."

"NEST will deliver you to the air strip near their base and your new guardians will take you to your home, as well as watch over you while you stay. They will stay as long as you do."

I nodded again.

Optimus Prime sighed. "I would still prefer more Autobots accompany you on this journe-"

"Not a chance!" I interjected. Three was pretty much my limit.

"But you have been very understanding; therefor Jolt, Mudflap and Skids will be your guardians. However, I must warn you that contact with your family may cause them to be in danger from Decepticons, regardless of your guardians."

The words sunk heavily into my stomach. If I met them, would it spell the end of them? I clenched a fist. My whole being wanted to see them.

Surely, I could see them for just a little while? A little while wasn't too long to ask for, right?

"I understand. But I need to see them, Optimus Prime. I just…" I couldn't continue, throat clogging up. There was so much I needed to say to them. I needed to see them again, make sure they were okay after the government guys – Sector Seven – hurt them.

I couldn't verbalize it – I knew that it would come out sounding whiny and weak. Maybe it was. But that didn't change my thoughts. I'd only go home for a few days if it put them in danger. Just as closure, until something changed.

Optimus Prime was silent, before speaking quietly.

"I understand," the deep voice said.

"When can I leave?" I asked softly, trying to haul myself back together. I felt like I was due for a good cry-session pretty soon. Once I got home, I promised myself. Once I was in my Mom's warm arms, smelling her perfume and fresh baking smell. Then I could cry.

"The plane will depart as soon as you are ready," Optimus reassured, sounding soft. For a giant metal alien.

"Thank you," I murmured, and turned around, ready to race out of the massive room to grab my jacket – really my only possession. How terrible was that?

I was going to see my family again, soon. My vision flared as my heartbeat raced, and I saw Optimus Prime. Immediately, I recognized him. He was the blue and red truck from before, with the Decepticons Ravage, Rumble, and Scalpel. My guts twisted in thought of them. Optimus Prime was _huge_! From my vantage point of the ground, he looked about twice the size of Bumblebee. Amazing.

I also spotted the door, just behind him.

My vision disappeared, leaving me in the blackness. But that was alright. Even though I didn't know when, I knew that my vision would be back. And until then, I would try my best to be strong and not need anyone's help.

Just because I was blind didn't mean I needed to be coddled. Going home was proof of that, in a strange way.

Even though I was going to go home and most likely cry like a baby.

I scuttled along the floor, feeling it quake and hear the loud crashes of concrete being slapped by metal when Optimus moved.

"The door is right this way."

I nodded, keeping the memory of where the door was in my mind. It wasn't the big guy's fault – he didn't know I had sporadic vision. No one but Ratchet (and possibly the twins if they remembered) knew that.

Before leaving, I took a moment to take a deep breath and compose myself. No breaking down until I got home, I scolded myself. No matter how much I wanted to.

Ratchet was just outside the door.

"Hi, Ratchet. I'm assuming you heard all about what is happening?"

"How'd you know it was me?" he sounded slightly surprised.

I halted in my quick steps.

"I… I don't know," I said, hearing confusion in my voice. It was a legitimate question though – how _did_ I know that it was Ratchet and not one of the other aliens?

I could hear him muttering above me, something about idiots and fragging mysteries. My mind immediately jumped back to the relevant information. Ratchet could stew about how I knew it was him. Weirder stuff had happened to me, so I really didn't care.

"I get to go home!" I smiled, feeling more childish than I had in years. It felt good.

"Please let me know when you arrive home," Ratchet said, and I could hear the metal of his frame twisting and bending crazily. He picked me up, warm fingers wrapping around me carefully.

He carried me to the room where I was staying, close to the med bay. As he set me down, he growled out something lowly.

"Wait a moment. I have something for you," Ratchet said, sounding gruffer than usual. "Hold out your hands."

I did as he asked, and felt a small piece of metal placed in them.

"This is a communicator. With this, you can speak to me whenever you want, without needing to go through your guardians. I want you to comm. me at least once per day – if I had my way, I wouldn't be letting you out of the med bay yet."

My smile crept through my lips. Ratchet was such a softie, way, deep down. I hugged the fingers, gripping on to the small metal chunk tightly. If it was up to him, he'd probably _never_ let me out of med bay.

"Thank you, Ratchet. Thank you," I breathed, hugging the fingers tighter.

The medical officer huffed and grumbled, but didn't pull his fingers away. My cheek bandage scraped against the warm metal.

I fingered the little metal communicator Ratchet had given me. He liked me too – and there was something special (at least in my mind) about being one of his patients. Once Ratchet had taken you as one of _his_ patients, you were never going to get rid of him. He was loyal to the end.

No matter what the threat of wrench-to-head was, I'd take it.

It was nice, knowing that he cared about me. I'd been a little short on that for the past few months.

"How do you use this?" I asked, holding up the little metal rectangle.

"On one side, there should be a button. Press it, and it will contact me. I can contact you through it as well. The rest is essentially a battery pack."

I played with it, feeling the little button on the top, just like he said.

It turned out that I had met my three guardians before – the twins were the ones who took me out to the beach and helped me escape the med bay (med lab, more like…) and the quiet, slightly formal one. He introduced himself as Jolt, and the other two were Skids and Mudflap. Easy enough to remember.

I said goodbye to Ratchet, who had difficulties letting me go into the care of the 'moronic half-bits who had instigated the whole mess' and let me be captured by Decepticons. He'd also intimidated Jolt into giving him noon and midnight reports on how I was doing.

I thought it was overkill.

Jolt agreed (like he had any other choice), and the twins were screaming in fear of the 'killer medic.' They had such an interesting way of talking.

I was escorted into a plane, filled with military guys. They were loud and cracked a lot of… colourful jokes. I stayed quiet, leaning against a window and feeling the vibrations echo in my teeth.

During the entire flight, I thought about my family. How excited I was to see them. How happy they'd be to see me again. A small smile curled my lips.

Tiredness washed through me. I leaned back in my seat, making sure my head wasn't against the window – I had no desire to wake up with a neck ache.

I fell asleep easily, warm darkness inviting.

I woke up when my head screamed in pain. There was something hurting, in my temples and chest.

The world felt off-kilter, like I had drunk too much. My head throbbed suddenly, an aching, splitting pain in my temples. I was dizzy, and only leaning back against the seat of the plane helped at all in keeping the world right side up.

"Holy…" I breathed in and out, hands wrapped around my head. It passed, leaving me feeling weak and numb.

Something from my pocket vibrated and chirped.

I pulled it out, feeling the smooth metal of the communicator. I pressed the button on the top, and held it up to my ear, wondering if it needed to be held up to my face or not.

"Alex, how are you feeling?" Ratchet snapped out. It was like he was on the plane with me – the sound was perfectly clear.

"I'm fine now… how did you know?"

"Frag, you did feel something just now. Primus slaggit, I thought this might happen."

"What might happen? Ratchet, you expected me to feel like crap?"

"I believe it to be because you are now outside the limit of the bond with the idiots. Both of the idiots displayed signs of mild spark loss just now."

"Spark loss?" I echoed.

"It is traumatic for sparks that are connected to be disconnected, through distance and for any length of time. Until they, and you, are back together, there will be a slight feeling of… longing or disconnectedness in your spark – or heart, for you."

"Fantastic," I muttered, rubbing my aching chest. Was it going to feel like this the whole time? Like I was forgetting something – even though I knew that was just my messed up brain saying I needed to go back and get the twins. Crazy.

Ratchet continued. "How are you feeling? Oh, fraggit, I should have come with you. Jolt's scanners aren't as advanced as mine, and he doesn't know all the slagging ailments a human can suffer from," he muttered, sounding like he forgot that I was on the other side, listening to him grumble.

"Why did this happen this time, and not the times before? When I was out of their range before, it never hurt like this."

"Probably due to the fragging idiots," Dual thumps from the other side, "being offline. Their sparks are clinging to anything that connects them together right now."

The image of a pile of kittens came to mind. If one could have giant warring aliens act as kittens.

"They feel this pain all the time?"

There was a sinister chuckle. "Less than they deserve, fragging slag-heads."

Ratchet could be scary sometimes. It _hurt_, like the center of my chest was punched out.

"I'm fine, Ratchet. Really. Get back to fixing the twins," I said, knowing that the fact that they were still damaged was eating at his mind.

Sure, I didn't want them around, harassing me, but they were still people (sort of) and deserved to live. Not wanting them awake just because I didn't like them was selfish and rude. I could take the high road here.

"Talk to you later, Ratchet."

The medic grumbled something about making sure I drank and ate enough, and commed. him when I got home. I smiled. The communicator cooled off, so I assumed he was gone.

A while later, we were off the plane. I'd needed someone to assist me to the restroom, and someone had brought me some food and water. The water had been good, but I couldn't stomach the food. My head was throbbing too much, and my chest ached.

I was currently riding with Jolt, trying to keep my brain from hurting my leaning it against the cool glass. It was probably leaving oil marks. My bandage on my cheek scratched against the glass, and the one on my arm and torso itched like crazy.

I scratched around the area on my face.

It got caught on my sleeve, and ripped off the entire bandage. I winced, clenching my jaw to not cry out.

My fingers darted to the area. There was a scar on my cheek, but no wound. How was that possible? At the least, there should have been stitches, possibly some dried blood. There was nothing.

My forehead furrowed. I felt under the one on my torso, where there should be a large hole near my shoulder where they ripped out the other piece of metal.

Nothing. Slightly puckered, scarred skin with stitches. But the skin was intact. It felt like the scars on my arms and chest – healed.

I felt for the other stab wounds. Scars there too.

I guessed that was one advantage of riding with an alien – they thought nothing of you sticking your hand down your shirt.

What was happening with me? It had only been less than three days since I was out of the hospital.

My stomach gurgled lightly.

"You require some sort of sustenance," Jolt said, speeding up. "How long before you decline into stasis?"

I had to work through his words. Once I got it, I felt like laughing. Poor Jolt – so petrified of Ratchet that he thought I was going to go into a coma if I didn't eat when my stomach growled.

"I'm not going to pass out if I don't get something to eat," said, rubbing my stomach lightly.

My eyes throbbed again, and I rubbed them. My hand froze over my eyes.

"Jolt? Are my eyes all red still?" I was hoping not, but if they were, then I'd have to cover them up somehow.

Or create a viable cover story for my family. Sclera weren't normally red, and it wasn't a normal ailment.

There was a slight pause. "If eyes are referring to your optics, then yes, they are red."

I nodded, thinking. Sunglasses. I could use a big pair of dark ones for outside, and… I'd have to think of something to say to my parents, or they'd haul me off to the emergency room. After all, a blind girl wouldn't be able to see her own eyes.

"Okay, if you could stop at the next convenience store, I'll get everything done," I promised.

"Will you have problems locating what you need?"

I hesitated. There was no guarantee that my vision would kick in, and I didn't have a cane or anything to help myself out.

"I'll manage," I said, proud of how my voice didn't quaver at all. That cry I needed was becoming more and more imminent.

We pulled over, and I managed to get myself equipped with sunglasses, use the bathroom, and buy a nasty pre-packaged sandwich, thanks to the money that I'd been given at the base. I'd kept my eyes closed, so that no one could see the demonic red glare.

Some person had been so sorry for me when they learned that I was blind that they helped me do all these things, even selecting a pair of glasses.

Who knew what they looked like – the glasses, not the human.

In the bathroom, I opened my eyes wide, hoping to see. Nothing.

We got back on the road, after I ate my sandwich and downed a bottle of water. I'd been able to hear the muttering of the other twins from inside the shop, the grumblings of their engines revving harshly.

I'd gone as quickly as I could – and I'd only heard the slightest murmurs of people wondering what had happened to me.

Now we were driving, and I was becoming increasingly excited.

Thoughts of my family overwhelmed my thoughts of how much of a freak I was. I'd be seeing them soon!

I was so excited! I was going to see them after four long months of aliens.

"How are you feeling?" Jolt asked, engine revving slightly and startling me. "Ratchet said that you experienced mild spark loss on the plane over."

I swallowed, and shrugged nonchalantly. It was all I could do to keep from shrieking in glee. The action had my head whirling. "I'm so excited I might explode."

"Ya gonna hurl?" One of the twins interjected, and there was a squeal of metal. I didn't even think about how they were able to transmit their voice into Jolt.

I shook my head, holding my hands on my face in an attempt to cool down and relax. I wasn't going to throw up, or pass out. There was no reason to.

Crazy girly emotions.

To distract myself, I asked Jolt questions. Somehow, the topic rotated back to the twins, the little fraggers. My eyes widened. I was picking up Ratchet's bad language. Oops.

"Can you tell me more about their bond?"

Perhaps it was masochistic of me. I didn't actually have to know _anything_ about them, but it was something to fill in the time.

"Twins are-_were_ special on Cybertron. In all of history, there were only a few sets that lived past their creation. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are two such ones, as are Mudflap and Skids. Mudflap and Skids are the more typical split-spark twins, in which fewer abilities are lauded by each member of the bond. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are special – both of them are top class warriors, able to take down warriors much larger than themselves, and their teamwork is to be feared.

"Their bond is special – it's rumored that they can mentally send thoughts, images and emotions to each other with all the ease of a comm. link.

"For a human to be involved… it is unprecedented. Who knows what will happen?"

I nodded. "I think that's why Ratchet is so nervous. He doesn't know if I'm going to die tomorrow or explode or something."

Jolt slowed. "We are here. Reading two life signatures. And do try to refrain from exploding on my watch or Ratchet will dismember me," he said wryly.

I quirked a tiny grin even though my heart was beating insanely fast, like a hummingbird's wings. My vision flickered into existence, letting me see the area where my family lived now.

A white-brown-blue-tinted house, perched between three massive oak trees. White fencing and brilliant blue-green grass. Brilliantly blue sky, small clouds dusting the surface.

My throat was dry. What were they going to say when they saw me? What would I say?

I was a bundle of nerves, elation and jubilation all in one. It felt like I might die, actually. Was it possible to die from nerves? I didn't really want to find out. Jolt seemed like a decent alien – as far as aliens went. It would be a shame if Ratchet killed him.

I steeled myself and stepped out of the car.

My heart was racing, thumping away like a snare drum in my chest. My vision had remained, painting the world in tints of red. My finger hesitated at the door bell, before I gathered up the courage and pressed it swiftly.

There was a few moments in which I felt my guts rising up and down, flip-flopping wildly. A crazy part of me wanted to just take off, run for the hills and not go in. I squelched it down fiercely.

Then I could hear footsteps and the door opened.

I knew immediately from the silence that it was Mom. I locked eyes with her, even though she couldn't see my eyes past the sunglasses. She had a few new wrinkles in her face, and a few more grey hairs at her temples. She'd gained some weight too. I bit my lip – it was so good to see her again.

I swallowed. "Hi, Mom."

There was a choked gasp, and she flung her hand up to her mouth, eyes wide.

"Alex?" she asked hesitantly, voice soft and reedy.

I nodded, taking a small step forwards. It seemed to jolt her out of her stupor, and she flung herself forwards, arms wrapping around me tightly.

Immediately I melted, all the crap I'd been going through, from the last time I'd seen my family to now, everything spilled out.

I burst into tears, hanging on to my mom like the lifeline she was.

* * *

**AN: **I actually have nothing to say. Ratchet has to be one of my favourites. And the twins wake up next chapter! Finally! (I know, I know – sorry about that, everyone!)

Favourite line of the chapter? Mine has to be: _"I've refrained this long, but my programming can't take it anymore. I need to scan you, as soon as possible."_

Hehe, my brain jumped somewhere dirty when he said that – I'm such an idiot.


	21. Supplicium

**Chapter 21: Supplicium**

(Latin: _punishment_)

* * *

**AN: **This chapter is a little short, but that is only because the twins decided to clam up, and the next chapter is focused on Alex, and this would have ended up, like, 12k. Would have been crazy.

* * *

Jace clicked at his computer, deliberating whether or not to get up and get a quick snack. Then again, Q always seemed to know when he did things like that. Q was a freak.

He stretched, feeling his back pop and crack in several areas.

Alex was still taken by the aliens – he needed to get her back, but it was slow going. So far, he had no idea where she was. There was no evidence of her online, no little notes that might have come from her.

It was a struggle to keep his hopes up over the months as there was no mention of her, even with all his looking. She was still alive though – there was no way she was dead.

He'd been watching every Lamborghini, but so far hadn't found any that weren't driven by people, or not registered. It might be time to refine his search.

Q swept into the room, fingers wrapped around a white coffee mug, steam rising in a fragrant cloud.

Immediately, Jace flung all thoughts of his sister out of his mind – he'd mentioned her once and Q had acted… oddly. As her big brother, he didn't like it.

He hauled a chair over to Jace, and sat, leaning forwards to inspect the screen.

"Hmm, good, good. The calibration seems to be off here." He pointed with his first two fingers, dragging them along the screen.

Jace leaned forwards, inspecting the code for the mistake. Immediately, he spotted it, noting that it was easily fixed.

"Well spotted," he praised, fingers dancing over the keyboard as he corrected the slight coding error. The smell of rich coffee was in his nose, clogging up his sinuses.

Q sat back.

"I have a mission for you, Jace," he said.

Jace flicked a glance over at the dark haired man. He always wondered if Q was the head of the organization – Sector Seven – or if Q was just a pretentious toady. Really, what boss of a government agency had the time to personally check up on their newest associate and personally hand out missions?

"Follow me." Q stood in one graceful move and strode out of the room. Jace stood, and moved after his boss, wondering why the hell the skinny pale guy had to be so damn dramatic. It wasn't like it changed anything, right?

Just made him look more impressive.

He followed him into his office – a moderately sized room painted a navy blue, with massive oak bookshelves behind him like giant angels watching over Q's shoulders.

There were no windows – made sense, considering the base was underground. Probably explained why Q was so pale too.

Q set the coffee on the desk, and steepled his fingers into an elegant arch.

He waited until Jace was sitting in front of him, fingers tapping out binary codes on to his thigh. His fingers were always moving, always dancing on something. It was a habit.

Q slid a USB across the dark oak desk, flicking it until it slid to a stop, right before the edge of the desk. Jace watched it, not moving to touch it.

"On that USB is all the information we have managed to procure on the location of the NBE's base. I want you to find it."

Jace flicked a glance at the metal, and then back up to Q. Had it really been necessary to drag him away from his computer to tell him to find a freaking alien base? Probably not.

Eh, that was Q for you. Dramatic to the last.

Then his brain kicked in. Alexandra had been with the Lamborghini. The Lamborghini was an alien, and so was most likely at the base. Finding the base would be a huge step in finding his sister.

He played with the USB, before glancing back up at Q.

"Anything else?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.

The pale man smirked, before leaning forwards in his chair.

"Once you find it, come to me personally."

Who else would he tell? Other than his department head. Which, at the head of the head, was Q.

He nodded, standing up and moving towards the door, nearly expecting Q to say something else. But the bastard had already had the last word, so he was satisfied. Or something.

Time to find his sister.

* * *

Q sipped his coffee as Jace Wells left his office, staring at the young man's back.

Once Jace had the Autobot base located – and with the information it wouldn't take long – he'd be able to complete the rest of the plan.

He had no hopes that this would wipe out the NBE infestation – they were terribly hard buggers to kill off – but it might hurt them, at least for a while. Which would make it easier for the other group of NBE's to hurt them even more. Hopefully kill some of them.

And once they'd hacked through the USA's missile base, and fired on the NBE's base… well, that would be sweet, wouldn't it? At the very least it would cause some dissent and uproar among the government. Having Jace (even though he didn't know he would be) fire the missiles would lock in the young hacker.

That would trap the hacker in – his fingerprints would be all over it, and he was the one who located the base. Of course, he wouldn't let Jace know that was what the code did unless leverage was needed. Then he couldn't go to the government.

It was probable that the aliens knew that Sector Seven was alive and kicking and just hadn't considered them a great enough threat to try and take that down.

He smirked slightly. Soon, they'd be strong enough that taking down NBEs was child's play.

And once he got Alexandra back, keeping her away from her brother would be easy. Put her in a different base, don't tell the brother. Easy.

It wasn't like the aliens would let her go. The girl might even be dead. Just another reason for Jace to find the base. So they could get the human girl out, and give her brother hope.

* * *

Ratchet looked at Optimus for a moment, an unreadable expression on his faceplates, before transmitting all the data he had on what had happened to Alexandra Wells. All the data he had from scans, showing the scarring on her back, more recent than the scars from the energon radiation.

Optimus' spark chilled as he read what one of his warriors, one of the Autobots had knowingly done to another life.

This was unacceptable – and should have been dealt with far earlier.

He'd failed as a leader, failed this human girl. No wonder she was so eager to leave the base. It would not be surprising if she never wanted to come back to the base – and he was of a mind to let her stay.

Perhaps Wheeljack could cook up some energy suppressant bands to shield the AllSpark's energy so that she could remain with her family. Or her family could be brought back to the base, to protect them.

Ratchet commed him. -_I know that look, Prime. There's nothing you could have done.-_

_-But I can offer my apologies and try to correct the wrongdoings done to Alexandra Wells.-_ He inspected his medical officer and old friend, sharp optics noting the dull look in Ratchet's optics. -_You are not to blame for what happened with the Decepticons, old friend.- _

He knew that was what Ratchet had been blaming himself over.

Until Alexandra herself told him that she forgave him, he would not let it go.

Ratchet looked at him piercingly. -_The twins can be brought out of stasis whenever you're ready, Optimus.-_

The leader thought about it for a moment.

_-Bring them out of stasis, old friend. This has gone on long enough.-_

A quick nod of the black helm, and Ratchet was off, wrench flipping out of subspace with a click, steps stalking down the hallway.

Optimus watched him go, faceplates blank. His optics were dancing, flickering with calculations.

* * *

Ratchet checked the backstrut, running a diagnostic swiftly. All the components looked good – until Sideswipe's systems fully integrated the new pieces, he'd be in some discomfort.

Sunstreaker had managed to cause multiple fractures down his chassis, nearly fracturing his spark chamber, the idiot. He'd welded the fractures best he could, but the dozens of hairline fractures took longer, due to the fact that he couldn't just weld them. Sunstreaker's chest armour was a special polymer that took a while to repair with rough nanites. He knew the vain idiot would immediately go out and buff the frag out of the surface too – which would just remove the nanites from the surface and cause it to take even longer to be at optimal strength.

So it was for the idiot's own good that he was keeping them in stasis.

Now they were recovered enough to be taken out – besides, Optimus was here now and they needed to talk to the Prime.

He disconnected the wiring from Sidesiwpe's cortex, taking a moment to make sure it was working properly. The blue optics flared for a moment, and his scans indicated that processor function was coming out of stasis nicely.

Moving over to Sunstreaker, he repeated the process, before subspacing the cords. He had special ones for the twins – their battle coding and firewalls were advanced, and it was difficult to keep them under for long periods of time. The twins were so used to fighting that it was a challenge to keep them down – even in stasis, they were fighting wildly to be brought back online.

He'd had to use a special one for Jazz too – the Special Ops' had had very refined coding, with anti-hacking coding far beyond normal specs.

Making sure the twins didn't have access to their weapons was essential – before he learned to strip their subspace weapons, his med bay had been destroyed quite a few times. Both of the twins were warrior class, which meant that when they onlined, they did so quite violently, battle mode running.

It was one of the reasons he hated putting the fraggers into stasis. And of course they nearly always damaged themselves enough to warrant being offlined for a time.

Taking weapons from Sideswipe was always an adventure, and he _knew_ the little silver slag-head was hiding explosives somewhere in his subspace. Along with other, not-so-legal substances.

Sunstreaker came online first, optics flashing brightly as he clawed for a weapon.

"Easy, Sunstreaker. You're in the Autobot med bay. Sideswipe's here too, almost online, the lazy fragger."

The yellow mech relaxed, minutely. Not many others would have noticed it, but Ratchet was an expert in reading the twins.

Sideswipe came online just then, responding quite the same as his twin, scrabbling for a weapon. His hand blazed as a glowing sword shot out the end of one arm.

"Sunstreaker," he gasped, immediately lunging off the med bay berth and staggering forwards, optics still coming online.

"Relax, idiot," the yellow twin said drily, now standing up, inspecting his chassis.

"Oh, Sunny, I thought you were gone aga- Where's Alex?"

Ratchet looked at the silver twin who swivelled to pierce him with icy blue optics. His processor hummed; the twins' sparks had been apart too long, without all members of the bond being online.

"Where is she, Ratchet?" Sideswipe growled out, optics flashing dangerously. "Is she alright?"

The frontliner still hadn't put his sword away, and was advancing on the medic, flanked by his twin.

"She's fine. She's with her family."

Before the twins could work up any steam, or start threatening to leave and get her back, he started herding them towards the door.

"Optimus Prime needs to speak to both of you, right away," he growled out, advancing on the twins, and poking a digit into Sideswipe's chassis plating.

"Do anything, and I do mean _anything_ to jar that backstrut, and I will weld you to a berth, understand? Now, go. Optimus is waiting for you."

The twins shot a look at each other, and then both moved for the berths where he had stashed their weaponry. It took a berth each – perhaps the amount of weaponry the twins had all the time was a tad excessive. Then again, Ironhide was worse.

Astroseconds later, the berths were stripped clean of weapons, and they had transformed, racing out of the med bay.

* * *

Seymour Simmons was tapping his shoe against the ground, over and over, in an extremely irritating manner.

Optimus flicked a glance down at the human. Their liaison had the most peculiar timing ever – one moment, he'd be sitting in his office, filing papers and the next, he'd be right where all the action was, nearly getting stepped on due to his insistence on standing right underneath their pedes.

It was like the man had his brain permanently hardwired to know exactly where the next site of action would be, and once he was there, he never hesitated to raise his voice.

He wouldn't trade him – the small human was surprising good at being the Autobot-Human liaison, after all the issues with Sector Seven and the human governments.

Said liaison was getting jittery.

"Peace, Liaison Simmons, they are on their way."

"How many- It's _just_ Simmons, big guy, _just_ _Simmons._" The little human raised one hand to his face, rubbing his nose almost violently. Standard behaviour for their twitchy liaison.

Then again, trying to mediate between the Autobots and humans had to be a difficult thing. At least someone was up for it.

"Look, do none of you aliens have a watch? Sundial? Internal clock of some sort?"

The twins raced up, one silver, the other a buttery yellow. As they approached, they transformed.

Simmons marched up to their feet, no fear showing at being in front of the most volatile warriors the Autobots possessed.

"When your commander says to be here at fifteen hundred, you either show up at the right time, or let your liaison know you're going to be late so he can buy you clocks, capiche?"

They ignored him. Optimus's optics flicked to the twin warriors, sadness washing over his optics. They didn't understand.

Ratchet tooled up behind them, and transformed. His optics were murderous, and directly focused on the twins.

"Sideswipe, Sunstreaker. We have much to discuss."

Sideswipe looked slightly confused, and Sunstreaker was impassive, optics blank. Only his arms, crossed over his chassis, belied his tension.

"Is this about the bubbles in the washrack? Because it wasn't m-" The silver twin fell silent when Sunstreaker jabbed him.

Simmons waited outside, as per Optimus' previous (reinforced) request. How he dealt with discipline was his responsibility, not the human liaison's.

Once they were all in his office, Optimus spoke.

"I have spoken to Ratchet about the human Alexandra Wells. He brought up a number of concerns."

Immediately, the posture of both the twins changed. Sideswipe's became more tight and guilty, while Sunstreaker's merely tightened defensively.

"I am aware of all the data Ratchet has from the human. I am here to hear your side of the story."

Optimus looked at Sunstreaker first. "Please tell me how you met Alexandra Wells."

There was a long moment of silence, and for a moment Optimus thought the yellow twin wouldn't answer.

"When I landed on Earth, the human showed up as Sides in my HUD. I tracked it to the location and took it." The gold twin fell silent.

"That does not explain the marks on her back, Sunstreaker," Optimus goaded, letting a bit of steel enter his voice.

"I wanted to find Sideswipe." He flicked a glance at Sideswipe, both pairs of optics glowing a pale blue.

Most likely, he tortured the girl with electricity, scarring her back permanently.

Ratchet was clenching a wrench in his servos, grinding the metal harshly.

"Were you the one to use electricity on the human?"

"Yes." No hesitation at all in the warrior's voice.

He flicked a glance at Sideswipe, noting that the silver twin did not seemed shocked by this at all.

"Sideswipe, did you know of this?"

The silver twin hesitated, and then nodded once. "Yes, I did, Prime."

"What was your thought process in hiding this?"

The silver twin hesitated.

"Speak," Optimus growled out, sounding dangerous. He was disgusted that one of his Autobots could do something so violent and awful to a living creature. And for another one to keep the information to himself was just as despicable.

Ratchet hadn't said anything yet – most likely trying to restrain himself from denting the warrior's helms.

"I have no excuse, Prime." Sideswipe sounded subdued still. "I just… I can't lose him, not again."

Optimus looked at the twins with new eyes, trying to see it from their perspective. It was difficult. She was a sentient person, and even if she wasn't sentient, torturing another for information was not the Autobot way.

"I understand that you wanted to see Sideswipe again. However, I cannot condone your actions towards Alexandra Wells, the both of you."

"Sunny didn't know what he was doing, not completely!" Sideswipe protested. "Sure, I'm a glitch and deserve to be thrown into the scrapheap that I didn't tell on my twin, but it isn't Sunny's fault! Sir," he tacked on.

"Don't call me that," the yellow twin growled out, but was completely talked over by his silver counterpart.

"If we're separated, we'll do anything to get back to each other, anything at all," the silver twin rushed out. "He wouldn't have offlined her – his coding was saying that she was me. And I could no more tell on my twin than I could rip out his backstruts. Sure, Sunny's a glitch, but he's _my _glitch."

"That does not excuse acting as Decepticons," Optimus said, looking steadily at the smaller warriors.

Both stiffened, Sunstreaker narrowing his optics into thin, pale lines.

Optimus continued. "Just because he would not have offlined the human does not give him the right to torture her. By injuring the human, to further your own agenda, makes us no different than the Decepticons, who care nothing for life."

He flicked a glance to Sideswipe. "I understand your desire to protect your brother, but I cannot condone your actions. By helping him, you placed great injury to Alexandra. We do not harm humans – we must never forget that this is their world, and they may ask us to leave at their leisure. If we show no difference from Decepticons, they have no reason to trust us.

"Both of you have injured Alexandra Wells deeply."

Sideswipe stared back defiantly, but Optimus could see the guilt waiting there. He was more concerned about Sunstreaker. The yellow 'bot might respond the way he wanted, or become extremely bitter.

He sighed. "You have disappointed me, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe." Their optics flickered.

Turning away for a moment, his processor raced, determining if there was another way.

He could not determine one.

"For now, you will both be in the brig for eight orns, both to be placed in isolation, and as soon as Alexandra Wells is present again, you _will_ apologize to her. I will discuss with her what she considers adequate punishement, is that understood?"

Two heads nodded once, a sharp nod from Sunstreaker and a guilty one from Sideswipe.

"Ratchet will also be installing some software to prevent either of you from _ever_ harming another human."

"I expect this to never happen again. If it does, you will no longer be counted among Autobot forces, or deactivated until the end of the war, do I make myself clear?"

The twins looked stricken – Sunstreaker slightly less than Sideswipe. He was affected just the same, he just hid it better.

Ratchet was staring at him, an unreadable look in his optics. Optimus exhaled through his vents, sending a quick comm. to Ironhide. The black Topkick would be the one guarding the brig, if there was anyone in it – which there wasn't, until now.

"If that is all, you may report to the brig. I believe Ironhide has been alerted to your arrival."

Sideswipe nodded, dragging Sunstreaker with him. The yellow mech snapped at his brother for touching his paint, before shooting an unidentifiable glance over his shoulder at the Prime.

Optimus slumped right when they were gone, and it was only Ratchet with him.

"_You did the right thing, Optimus_," the medic said in Cybertronian, coming to stand right in front of him and placing a servo on his shoulder.

The young Prime let out a gusting exhale. "_If we did not need them so badly for the fight here on earth, I would have locked them both in stasis. __I fear this punishment to be too lenient."_

Ratchet looked at him, and he knew that the CMO agreed.

_"What would you suggest, old friend?"_

Ratchet sighed, and scrubbed a hand over his faceplates. "_Those irresponsible glitches probably should be put in stasis. I can't say what effect that would have on Alex though - she's so tied in to their bond now that it could cause her serious harm."_

The medic growled lowly, servo clenching.

There was also the problem that they _would_ need the twins. Megatron's forces here on Earth were just too strong for them to place two such warriors as the twins out until the end of the war. This needed to be dealt with here on Earth.

Sometimes, he wondered why he was the leader.

Optimus flicked his optics back to Ratchet.

"_Honestly, I would have done the same as you, Optimus." _The medic's optics flickered and darkened slightly. _"With some knocks to the helm."_

After a moment, the door slid open, and a loud human barged in.

"Oi, tell the idiot two that tramping on humans isn't allowed, huh?!"

"They are aware, Liaison Simmons."

Ratchet growled, and immediately left. He still had issues with the little human, from before, when he was in Sector Seven.

"Punished, huh? Oh, yeah, brig duty qualifies after trying to filet a human," he said, coming to stand on the platform along the side, specifically designed for humans.

"Eavesdropping is not an admirable quality, Liaison Simmons," Optimus said, even though he had known (all the Autobots in the room had) that the male human was listening at the door. There was no real harm to it, so they had continued to speak in English. They'd have to keep the liaison appraised of the situation, so it just made sense to let him hear it first hand, so that he didn't need to view a recording. The man probably would anyway, mainly because he was intensely focused on his job.

The human was waving his arms. "I get it, I get it, I get it. But we can't just dismiss what your wonder-twins have done to a civilian."

Optimus Prime inclined his helm slightly, taking in the human's words.

"I agree, Liaison Simmons. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe will be punished according to our laws."

The little human was standing firm. "The girl they tortured is a civilian of the United States of America – we have rules against _zapping_ people with _electricity_! Keeping this under wraps could be a logistical nightmare. And they get a slap on the wrist like brig duty?! I hate my job," the little human growled out.

Humans were so entertaining, Optimus thought to himself in a rare moment of humor. So little, and so full of fighting spirit. It warmed his spark to see all of them, living peacefully. He'd do all he could to make sure it remained that way. No matter what it took.

He appreciated the human bringing his spirits up – in these dark times of an Autobot acting as a Decepticon, every scrap of light was needed.

"I understand, Liaiso-"

"No, no, no, no! Just Simmons! Come on, tall 'n dark, say it with me. Si-mm-on-ssss." The human was using his hands to demonstrate, whirling back to the Peterbilt and flailing.

It was too easy to rile the liaison.

"Alexandra Wells will decide their fate. It is only fair, after all the hardship she has gone through."

"Letting their fate rest in her hands? She's a child!"

"Yet she has been as damaged by us as any other. I believe it only fair."

* * *

Sideswipe flicked a glance at his twin as they moved down the hallway, processor stinging from Optimus Prime's words.

He opened an internal comm. link, wishing for the bond. Sunstreaker was definitely brooding over something.

-_So, got any games on you?_- he tried, hoping to pull his brooding twin out of his funk.

-_Shut the frag up, Sideswipe_,- his twin responded, sounding like he'd already worked up to a full-scale angst session.

The silver twin cycled air through his systems, and then

-_I mean, this _is_ the last contact we'll have for a while_,- he tried cajolingly.

Sunstreaker was silent.

Sideswipe stopped trying to talk to his twin, instead letting himself think.

Part of him – a part he'd been repressing for orns – was _horrified_ that Sunny had even been able to hurt another member of their bond. For Sunstreaker, it would have felt like he was stabbing himself in the back, through the bond. None in the bond were supposed to be able to cause each other pain.

And yet both of them had managed to fail that common command of coding in a spectacular way.

Guilt flowed through his systems, reaching a crescendo.

-_This is all the slaggin' organic's fault_,- Sunstreaker finally sent, sounding dark and viciously angry.

Sideswipe faltered. -_Sunny…_-

-_Don't call me that_,- he snapped back.

Sideswipe persisted. -_She's part of the bond, like it or not, until the Hatchet figures out what's going on. Maybe if you tell him what happened, he can help._-

Sunstreaker snorted. -_I told you, I can't activate that memory file_.-

-_And I know that's a load of slag – you _know_ it was Shockwave. That's a start. Ratchet can work with that_.-

-_Look, she's important. Primus, without her, we can't _feel_ each other. I can feel my spark aching, Sunny.-_

-_Is _that_ why you didn't come after me?_- The yellow twin spat, whirling on his twin.

-_What?_-

-_Found a nice, squishy organic and didn't need me?_-

-_Are you even listening to yourself right now?_- Sideswipe growled. As if a human (something that barely lived for a vorn, holy Primus!) would replace Sunstreaker… the thought was absurd. Totally and utterly insane.

-_You didn't look for me._-

Underneath the cold words, he could hear the hurt, hear the pain from Sunstreaker. His twin was not taking Optimus' words well at all – lashing out was what he did when he didn't know how to cope.

Being told they were no better than miserable, fragging 'cons… it stung, a lot. Considering all the thousands of vorns they'd been fighting for the Autobots, and to be told that…

He knew Sunstreaker still had jagged memory files interrupt his recharge sometimes, about the monster he had been in the rings, way back on Cybertron. To be told he'd degraded back to the mindless, killing machine he was…

His twin didn't like to show any weakness, so he was striking out at Sideswipe, the only one within reach.

-_You know that isn't true,_- he sent back, sounding patient. He'd been on the Xantium the whole time, racing towards Optimus' signal. Sunstreaker would have gotten the message too – and there had been no way to search for his twin in hyperspace.

Sunstreaker remained silent, before growling lowly.

-_You'd take the organic's side?_-

Sideswipe blew air through his vents. -_Sunny, stop antagonizing me, fragger._-

The Lamborghini's engine growled, "_Don't call me that!"_

-_Or what?_- he jeered, _knowing_ where this was going. Sunstreaker needed to work off some nervous energy. Pit, he could do with some stress relief too – fighting it was.

Both warriors launched themselves at each other, ripping at the metal armour coating their protoforms.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker lashed out at each other, servos tearing at gleaming armour. Sunstreaker crashed into a wall, leaving slight dents in the concrete as the yellow twin growled, optics a pale, icy blue, flickering with the coding racing through his processor.

Sideswipe hadn't transformed his arms to pile-drivers yet, nor shot blades out. Sunstreaker hadn't whipped his blades out either – clearly, they were just roughhousing to blow off steam. They hadn't escalated their battle routines yet, and wouldn't unless tempers escalated.

Which Sideswipe had no intentions of doing. He didn't want to _hurt_ Sunstreaker, he was just so upset about this whole fragging thing.

Alex. She'd had such a slagging bad hand in this whole thing. How had Sunstreaker _hurt_ her when she was showing up as him? He didn't think he could injure anything that his HUD registered as Sunstreaker, even if it was a rock. He'd bring it with him, and find Ratchet. It would probably be a virus, or something like that.

Part of him was hurt too – he'd known that Sunny had hurt Alex, and had deliberately ignored every mention or thought Alex had had of the event, part of his processor not wanting to even contemplate the _idea_ that Sunstreaker could nearly kill something that registered as him.

He knew his twin had no problem harming, or even torturing innocent creatures, but the last time had been ages ago, back in the gladiatorial pits. He'd thought that Sunstreaker's processor had changed enough to not injure the innocent.

The yellow twin smashed a clenched fist into his side, making silver armour clatter and several sensors tighten. A few error messages flashed in his HUD, and he grunted. Swinging back at his counterpart, he dented a rather large portion of armour.

His processor was still whirling on the problem of his twin and Alex – the fighting wasn't intense enough to take his entire amount of RAM to worry about. He suspected that Sunstreaker was thinking too – it was just that he thought best while fighting.

Suuny'd only been gone for four vorns – an infinitesimal second in their lives. But four vorns without Sideswipe had been enough to activate those desperate sub-coding quirks. They were designed to always be together, and if they weren't, the two would do _anything_ to reach one another. He'd just been managing better than Sunstreaker, always the more volatile of the two. Sunny hadn't been able to deal. Not to mention being held by Shockwave. That could do something to _any_ 'bot.

He knew that Sunstreaker didn't want to talk to Ratchet about the possibility of Shockwave – he _hated_ medical processor scans, with a passion. Ratch was slipping if he hadn't done it when Sunstreaker was out for repairs. Or he had, and hadn't discovered any abnormalities. Which was almost more chilling to his processor.

Perhaps Sunstreaker hadn't come as far as he'd thought his twin had.

He was slammed into a wall by Sunstreaker, and felt his engines rev heavily, and then there was a mass of black metal in between them, shoving them back.

"_Slag heads, can't stop fighting for two astroseconds_," Ironhide rumbled, shoving each of them away.

Sunstreaker's engine revved deeply, and he nearly attacked Ironhide, which would have been stupid.

Sunstreaker was shoved into the cell on the left, and Sideswipe into a different cell. Sunstreaker was snapping at Ironhide about the marks in his paint.

"Knock it off, ya fragging glitches! Can't you two keep it together for more than a breem?"

Both of the twins were silent, each heading for the opposite sides of their cell, plopping down and thinking.

-_You scratched my paint, you glitch,-_ Sunstreaker snarled through the internal comm.

-_And it'll stay like that for the next eight orns,_- Sideswipe teased, feeling twitchy, edgy and annoyed with his twin. As if he'd ever just desert his twin for an organic creature. Sunstreaker was so insecure. He should know that Sideswipe would never leave his twin, ever.

He switched his comm. off, ready to remain silent for the next eight orns. Or whenever Alex came back.

The silver twin started clicking a pede against the ground restlessly. He needed to _do_ something. Sunstreaker snarled from the next cell over – clearly his twin was feeling it too.

He _hated_ being in solitary. All Cybertronians did. It was one of the worst punishments devised – they _needed _the contact and communication with others, to keep sane.

At least they hadn't automatically been slapped into stasis. For a moment, he'd thought they were going to do that to Sunny. They'd have to do it to him too - he wasn't sure he could survive till the end of the war without some sort of contact with his twin.

He needed to apologize to Alex. And he'd drag Sunstreaker to do it too, even if the stubborn glitch didn't _feel_ like it. It was the least she deserved.

His pale blue optics flared for a moment, considering escaping the brig and pranking, to get rid of some of the tension in his frame.

Another part of him – the more sensible side – decided that would be something to classify under 'Really Really Fragging Bad Ideas.' Especially since Prime's little chat earlier – not staying in the brig for even a joor would set some sort of record, he was sure. Not a good record, either. Prime would never let him out, ever again.

He sighed, leaning back further. His processor started to whirl about the problem at hand again, guilt washing over him.

He hoped Alex was happy, with her family.

* * *

**AN: **Oh, Simmons, I do hope I haven't slaughtered your character beyond repair. At least in my story, you can keep your pants on. And I'm not sure why OP was teasing him... Perhaps because he wants to drive his blood pressure up? I not sure. OP can't be perfect _all_ the time, right? An' it wasn't even bad teasing, just...trying to lighten the mood, I guess. Weird Prime.

I read one story where Simmons was the liaison, and it was hilarious. If you haven't already, go read Flamedancer33's story 'All In The Job'. It's absolutely amazing, as is her other fic, 'Clementia.' I highly, _highly_ suggest if you want some laughs.

So. Q. Why the hell do you feel the need to have the last word in _everything_? Seriously, dude. Chill on the egomaniac stuff. Man.

Um… So… the twins sort of got disciplined, finally. Thoughts? Yes, I agree it seems seriously lenient, but I do have some reasoning for this, as outlined... briefly. Probably expound on that more later.


	22. Sanguis

**Chapter 22: Sanguis**

(Latin: _blood, family_)

* * *

**AN: **So, if any of you lovely people had any idea how freakin' hard it was to get this chapter out… I nearly had kittens, I swear. This other protagonist (for an unposted story) is really loud in my head. She sort of drowns out Alex, the pseudo-pacifist. So my muse was gone for a bit.

…I wrote this chapter while super tired. And attempting to avoid studying. During editing, I noticed about six (six?!) instances where I referred to OP as a female. Why, I have no idea. He's pretty much the most masculine of all of them. Why, brain, why?

Reviewers are loved and cherished deeply. I send each of you a virtual cookie.

**Q's Quirky Code Names – **since the last time they were really brought up was… Chapter 7? I'm just posting them again, just in case. :)

AS-four (alpha-sierra-four) – Alex

NoBEL-one – (Sunstreaker) Non-Biological-Extraterrestrial-Lamborghini-ONE (1)

NoBEC-one – (Sideswipe) Non-Biological-Extraterrestrial-Corvette-ONE (1)

* * *

The older man listening to the Field's household conversation sipped his coffee leisurely, contemplating getting another one. Or maybe he should just nuke it for a minute. His supe would have his head if he found out that he wasn't at his post, but listening to some broad chatter about _flowers_, of all things. Flowers.

He snorted, taking another deep draught of the lukewarm drink.

Whatever these poor saps had done to warrant being watched by the government must have been really stupid. In the whole time he'd been listening to them – nearly six weeks – they hadn't once said one of the words he was to watch for, other than about their daughter, Alex. There was a massive watch on anything to do with the girl.

The 'why' was definitely above his pay grade though, damn it all.

Clicking his pen idly, he contemplated getting another coffee again.

The doorbell rang, and he tuned in slightly. Always a chance of hearing something interesting.

The first words made his eyes widen.

"_Hi Mom,"_ a thin, small voice said. Who was this? Couldn't be their son – this sounded nothing like a boy. He flashed a glance at the screens showing the front door.

A small, thin girl was standing there, massive blue hoodie obscuring her shape, and a pair of large, dark sunglasses covering her eyes. A daughter? _The_ daughter?

She was reported to be in witness protection. So what the hell was she doing at their house?

"_Alex?"_ Big-broad replied, sounding shaky and nervous.

Yeah, it was the daughter. His superiors _needed _to know this – the girl had a level one priority.

His pudgy finger slammed into the phone beside him, dialing a number frantically.

* * *

Q steepled his fingers. Finally, the bait had been taken.

He'd known Alexandra Wells – pardon, Field – would want to go to her family. Children were so weak that way. His insider information had also notified him that Alexandra would want to get to her family as soon as she could.

It had taken longer than he thought, but now, she was easy pickings. His scans of the area were only showing one suspicious vehicle. Granted, there was most likely more than one.

There was an operation being undertaken by some of the aliens at this time, so it was possible that one was all they could spare to watch over her.

However, due to the embarrassing failure with NoBEL-one and NoBEC-one four and a half months ago, he was not going to underestimate the aliens again. This would be the perfect opportunity to test the new weapons that the men were calling 'tics. Such was the fate of weaponry. To be named something completely unrelated, or degrading.

The team to go collect the human girl was to be equipped with these freeze guns, and then… once he had her, there was no way she was getting away again. Even if he had to fight off NoBEC-one and NoBEL-one personally.

He owed those two a debt anyways.

Flicking his fingers over the keyboard, he checked the data that had been sent, eyes glancing over the image of the girl.

Yes, that was her all right. Time to send a team. And he would not mess up this time.

He made a mental note to make sure the men had jamming devices. It wouldn't do for the guards following the human girl around to call for backup.

* * *

I cried my lungs out, feeling weak and empty once I was done. They were safe, they were fine, everything was alright. Mom had started crying too, arms tight and warm around me, clinging to me desperately.

I buried my face in her neck. She smelled exactly the same. For some reason, I had been expecting the cinnamon and perfume smell to be different, but it was exactly the same.

She was still my mother.

"Is Dad home?" I asked, not letting her go. We hadn't moved inside yet, still hugging fiercely in the entryway of the house. I could feel Jolt still sitting at the side of the road, with the other two further away.

"No, he's at work still – he works as an accountant now."

I nodded, face pushing into her shoulder. This, right here, was heaven. Someone who loved me without judging, someone who I could always talk to and knew all my quirks, bad habits and loved me anyways.

Her arms tightened around me.

"Alex, love, we were so worried! Wher-" she cut herself off.

I sniffed, feeling my eyes water all over her cream sweater. "I missed you guys too," I warbled, feeling the tightness in my throat.

The last time I'd seen them had been nearly five months ago. My last memory of them had been at the supper table, when the government agents had shown up and disrupted my –and my family's- lives.

Mom was showing me around the house, and I was finding it increasingly difficult to pretend that I was blind.

There were odd knickknacks on shelves, and brown hardwood flooring was predominant with pale walls with photos lining them, and potted plants in each corner.

I couldn't stop my eyes from flicking to each sight and back to my mother. I felt my heart soften each time I looked at her, grateful and delighted that she was okay.

Should I bring up the government agents, get my family's side of the story? Or should I not bring it up and just be happy in the time I had with them?

I couldn't make up my mind.

I'd ask Ratchet later – he could help me with what to do.

The sunglasses came off eventually – it would have been really strange to wear them all the time inside, in a place that I felt comfortable.

Mom hooked her fingers around the black wraparound shades and pulled them off gently. I looked her in the eyes, and she gasped.

"Honey, your eyes…" she trailed off, hands placed on my cheeks, cupping my face. Her eyes were warm and concerned. I couldn't help but look at her.

I ducked my head, feeling intensely shy and embarrassed.

"They're awful, aren't they?" I questioned, knowing that the sclera were a brilliant, fire-truck red. I hadn't seen them myself yet, but if an alien had commented on them, they were probably really freaking noticeable.

"They're so… red," she finally managed, sounding concerned.

I looked at the ground. Ratchet and I had planned for this eventuality.

"A doctor looked at it; it's fine, Mom. He said that there was nothing that he could do."

She frowned slightly, which I would have never known if I couldn't see. My heart was racing, thrumming like a bird's wings.

"If you're sure, Alexandra. I… I trust you. But honey, know that if you need to talk, I'm always here."

I nodded, meeting her eyes with mine. I couldn't tell her. The only ones I could actually talk to were the robots.

Her breath caught as she looked into my eyes – eyes that were looking back at her.

I flicked a glance down to the shades and took them, slipping them into my sweater's pocket.

"Alex… can you _see_?"

My eyes flashed downwards again. I deliberated on what to tell her. The truth? Or a lie? "…Yes." I didn't want to lie to my mom.

Her hands were warm and insistent on my face as she tugged me up to look into her eyes.

"How?" she breathed.

_Fixed it,_ the little voice said, sounding smug. I ignored the sound.

"…I can't tell you," I said after a moment. How could I tell her that a crazy little voice (who was _not_ the other two voices in my mind) had decided to take it upon itself to fix me. Or that said other two voices were giant alien robots intent on either killing me or beating each other up. Maybe both.

No. That would be impossible.

Mom sighed, before tugging me into a strong hug. "I'm just grateful that you're okay. I love you, Alex."

I wrapped my own arms around her tightly, breathing in deeply. Home. "Love you too," I murmured quietly. My vision faded as my heart rate calmed, fading to shades of grey.

I took a long bath, luxuriating in the hot water and relaxation. At the military base, there was water, but no bath tubs. The simple luxury was something I had definitely been missing.

Sluicing the hot water over my arms and legs, I sighed. My vision had faded nearly the instant I had started soaking, heart beat relaxing into an easy, simple rhythm.

My clothes were sitting on the toilet, Ratchet's communicator sitting on the top. Just in case.

It was warm and quiet. My eyes slipped shut, and I breathed out slowly, just trying to relax.

* * *

_There were two moons. My gaze lingered over the metal horizon, flames spewing from the surface of the planet. _

_I wondered if the flames were normal, or a result of some sort of volcano._

_Glancing down, I saw a deep trench, black all the way down, right past my feet. Tiny pinpricks of light flared at the bottom, like miniature stars._

_This was the first time that I had been there in the dark._

_I felt like there was someone with me, but I couldn't see them. _

_Flashes of light washed across the dark sky. _

Ships,_ my mind supplied. _Ships fighting.

_Looking left, I could see the outline of a faint grey form. Barely visible. Like a faint fog in the air. When I looked at it, the sense that I wasn't alone strengthened. _

_Just as I got the sense that the figure was about to speak, it disappeared. _

_Flashes of blue and red were in the distance, fading into black as I peered around._

* * *

There was a loud pounding at the door, and I jumped, startled. My eyes widened, and colour flared into my life. My eyes flashed to the door, noting the pale eggshell colour of the room, and the dark towels hanging.

It had been a dream. My head burned and throbbed harshly.

I was silent. If it was a 'con, I didn't want to broadcast my location.

"Alex, honey, are you all right?"

I nodded, before remembering that they couldn't see me, or scan me through the door.

"Yea-" My voice cracked. I cleared my throat, and tried again. "Yeah, I'm good. This is… nice."

Nice was an understatement. This was divine.

"Okay. Dinner'll be on the table in twenty minutes," Mom called through the door.

I spoke my agreement quietly. It felt really, really weird to be in a house, with my parents again. Insanely weird.

My vision flickered out again, but not before I got a good glance at my arms.

They were lined with scars, riddled with shiny white tissue. They looked horrific. I could only imagine my face.

Add red eyes to that – I was likely a walking freak. No wonder that child, so long ago, had freaked out when they saw me.

I felt water pooling at the bottoms of my eyes, and my throat becoming tight. Breathing in harshly through my nose, I closed my eyes, forcing the water away.

I wasn't even sure why I was so close to crying. It was stupid – hadn't I done enough of that earlier?

I finished my bath swiftly, suddenly unwilling to spend any of my time away from my family. While I was here, I needed to make the most of it.

Before I came out of the bathroom, I made sure that my face was dry and that I had the communicator tucked in a pocket.

I had barely taken a few steps outside the bathroom when Mom had grabbed my arm. My immediate response was to flinch away, even though I knew it was safe. Something in me rebelled at being grabbed with no warning.

Mom apologized, I apologized, and she helped me into the kitchen, rambling about her flowers. I swallowed, not sure why it suddenly felt _wrong._ Wrong that I was here, wrong that I was gone – I needed to be somewhere else.

The prattle around me didn't falter even as Mom continued cooking and preparing supper.

The door slammed, making me jump. Immediately, Mom was calling out greetings.

"William, Alex is in the kitchen, honey!" Her voice was high-pitched and excited. William.

I hadn't really realized it when Ratchet had told me their names, but my father's whole name had changed. From George Wells to William Fields. Weird. Mom's name - Marion - hadn't changed.

I bit my lip slightly. I wanted to see Dad again too; give him a hug. Heavy footsteps echoed on the wooden floor, coming towards me. Dad was more quiet than Mom,

There was a large, warm hand that landed on my head.

"How's Jace?" I asked, digging into my plate – it felt like I had peas on my spoon.

Mom sighed. "We don't see him as much as I'd like, but he's doing well. He's in school, in Nevada still."

I nodded, scooping the spoon into my mouth. Yep. Peas.

Mom gasped, and I heard the clatter of her knife hitting the wooden table with a clunk. She was touching my hair, running her fingers through it.

"William! We need to call Jace and let him know that Alex is home!"

Mom was away from the table, moving around. I followed her progress with my hearing.

Dad spoke. "Marion, he'll still be in class until four. Call him in an hour."

Mom came rushing back to the table, chattering again and touching my shoulder lightly. Her fingers were close to digging into the bone.

"Alex, were you eating at all?" She sounded so worried, and the last thing I wanted to tell her about was how I had only eaten when Ratchet forced me to. It would sound bad, and only worry her.

I nodded, turning to her. "Yeah, I was eating a lot," I said lightly. "I just lost a little weight from the whole thing."

Mom was silent, which was unusual for her. I must have worried her anyways – despite my attempts.

I was probably different than they remembered. In my defense, I hadn't known anything four months ago.

"Where were you?" Dad asked, laying down his knife and fork, peering at me over steel-rimmed glasses.

I played with my fork absently, before looking up and in his direction. My vision sharpened again, from the blurry grey tones to clear, vibrantly sharp colour. It was more difficult to pretend that I couldn't see than I thought it would be. The instinct to meet his eyes instead of focussing on a point behind him was nearly impossible to overcome. Clinking my fork against the plate, I spoke.

"I…I can't tell you. I can only come home for a little bit anyways; I have to leave again soon."

It would be too dangerous to stay long and I didn't want to get my family in trouble with the 'cons. The vision of Ravage, vicious fangs sunk deep into my mother's belly was haunting me.

There was a sigh from my father. "You can't tell us anything?"

I shook my head, meeting his eyes directly. The habit was too ingrained. His eyes were dark, staring at me with intensity.

"I can't tell you anything. For your own safety. It…" I hesitated. "It's not…safe."

Sharp eyes narrowed. My dad wasn't a pushover when it came to brains. He _knew_ that I could see; that I was meeting his eyes directly. But he wouldn't say anything.

I got that much.

I glanced down again, eying the plate of meat, rice and peas. I was finding it impossible to finish the plate. Typically, at the base, I didn't eat all that much.

"Are you safe?" he asked, piercing me with grey eyes.

I was about to nod in agreement when flashes of feelings hit me. Anger. Loathing. Pain.

My hesitation showed all over my face.

I glanced down at my plate. "As safe as I can be."

Mom spoke up. "Alex, you have to go back?"

My nod was strong, decisive. "Yes. I can't be away for too long."

My parents were worried and it showed, in their hesitant glances towards me, and their concern, shining all over their faces.

When had they become so easy to read? When had I moved from _being_ consoled by them, to _consoling_ them?

The more I sat with my parents, the more I knew that I was needed elsewhere. My life was different than this now.

All I had needed was closure.

As I took another bite of the chicken, I felt something inside me shift. It was good to be with my family again, but this wasn't where I belonged. My place was still undefined.

Running from the confrontation with the twins would get me nowhere. The truth of the matter was that they were still tied in to my head.

And regardless of the fear that Sunstreaker brought to me (and everyone else), I was needed there. I had friends there, who cared about me.

I'd thought my parents could hide me from the world, but that was wrong. I could handle it on my own.

Not to mention that the longer I stayed here, the more danger my family was in. What if the 'cons could scan me as the AllSpark, and came after my family? It wasn't safe here.

But I'd be selfish a little longer. Just a few days couldn't hurt, right?

My fork was frozen to my face as I had my epiphany.

I had to go back.

But not right now. I'd take the time I had with my family.

"How long are you staying?" Dad inquired.

I shrugged slightly. "As long as I can manage."

"Do you have any idea how long that will be?" Mom asked eagerly.

Shaking my head, I looked down. "No, I have no idea how long I can stay."

I glanced up, looking at both of my parents. A small smile curled my lips.

"I'll stay as long as I can though. After I'm gone, I'll be gone for a long time though. I have to."

A twist of guilt in my stomach. Suddenly, sitting here, eating dinner with my parents felt nerve-wracking. What if the 'cons showed up? Could Jolt, Skids and Mudflap _really_ hold off 'cons?

What if I was putting my family in danger?

My parents were silent. I wasn't sure what they were thinking.

"Be safe, Alex." Mom's voice quavered slightly.

"How's Liam?" I asked. Regardless of how we had fallen apart, he was still one of my (very limited) friends. I tried to take my mind off the selfish, guilty feeling washing through my stomach, making the small amount of peas I had eaten threaten to come up again.

There was a moment of silence, and then Mom's chair was squealing on the floor, footsteps coming closer.

Mom crushed me to her chest. "Oh, honey, you didn't hear about it?"

A sickening feeling was rising in my chest. "Hear about what?" I managed. Mom only did this when someone was dead or dying. My friend…dying? Dead? No, it couldn't be.

Sure, we'd parted on a pretty tense note, but it had been a long time since then. I wanted to talk to my friend.

"Honey…" Mom hesitated. "Liam committed suicide about a month after you disappeared."

My eyes shot wide open at those words, something inside me twisting and jabbing into my lungs, making me unable to breath.

"Sui…cide?" No, it couldn't be true! Liam would never! He was too strong to do something like that!

"Why?" I choked out.

"No one knows. He just…" she trailed off.

"No, I can't believe that. He wouldn't, he wouldn't…he _wouldn't_ do something like that. Not Liam," I mumbled, chasing food around my plate, staring down. My heart hurt. How could he _do_ something like that?

"I'm sorry, love."

"No, I can't believe it – he _wouldn't._" I was in shock.

Man, this sucked.

The rest of dinner was a quiet affair. I was trying to keep my peas and rice down, nausea threatening to overcome my weak stomach. Liam was… dead? How?

I didn't think I could bring myself to ask _how_.

Dad had given me a cellphone, with a quiet murmur that I should use it when I could, and that it was just so that I could have a little piece of them with me. I had tucked it next to Ratchet's communicator, a warm glow in my heart.

After supper, I curled up on the couch that Mom had guided me to.

Mom was sitting beside me, holding one of my hands tightly. The other hand was playing with my hair.

I leaned into her embrace, loving how warm and soft she was. Metal creatures were nowhere near as soft as this.

Mom was softly humming, the sound nonsensical and rhythmic.

I hadn't been able to see since some point during supper when my heart rate had calmed down.

My head and eyes were paying the price now – they burned and throbbed heavily. Maybe I'd overused them? The headache was right through my head, centered in the back and in my eyes. Nothing helped them – I'd tried ice packs, darkness, warmth and pressure. None of those measures had helped.

This felt a lot like it had used to, with Dad sitting in his chair, reading over a newspaper, pages turning once in a while, and Mom, watching her daytime soaps. Usually I would sit with them, listening to the sound and grooming Macy.

My eyes widened even though I saw nothing.

"Macy!" I turned to Mom. "Mom, what happened with Macy? Where is she?"

My stomach was sinking. Surely, if she was alright, Mom would have brought her up by now?

Her hesitance was an answer in and of itself.

"Love… Macy had to be put down. She was violent to the men who helped us. She even bit me."

I started shaking my head, slowly. Sector Seven, those _bastards_. They'd killed Macy. As if she'd bite my mother – she was the friendliest dog I knew. Not to mention she was trained to deal with people.

A pang of hurt. My mother had believed that Macy would hurt her?

"She would _never,_" I muttered, fist clenching. My companion. The one to snuggle and sleep beside me, keep me safe from danger and lead me.

I _hated_ Sector Seven. Nearly as much as I was scared of the 'cons.

How had they done it? The only thing I could think of was that they had used another golden retriever, and my parents hadn't known Macy well enough to spot the difference.

Had she died in pain? I could just imagine her whimpers, trusting gaze fixed on people who didn't deserve her well-natured behaviour. They deserved to _die_.

The wave of loathing washed through me, surprising me by how _strong_ it was. I wanted to kill them, rip them apart and skin them alive. I wanted to watch them _scream_, watch them dance in flames as they were roasted alive.

I wanted them all dead. After suffering.

Mom suddenly jumped up and hauled me with her, loathe to let go of me for even a moment. She was acting like I was made of smoke, about to disappear if she lost her grip on me for even a moment. Sometimes I felt like that myself.

I waited as she clicked away, telling me excitedly that she should be able to get a hold of Jace, because his time was three hours behind ours, and so it was only six o'clock for him. So he should be home.

I listened to the clicking, still thinking about Macy and Liam. At least Jace was safe.

Mom dragged me to the computer chair; she had Jace on the line, on a webcam. My heart was soaring. Scraps of colour flared to life, showing me an image of my face and the background. Another box was showing me Jace's face. He looked haggard and old.

What had happened to my brother since I had seen him?

At least he still had his various gaming figurines and posters on the walls behind him.

My eyes burned wildly as I looked around; the throbbing made my head ache more.

"Lex!" His voice was warm and excited. "How long have you been home?"

"Since this morning. Dad helped Mom postpone calling till now – he said you were in class?"

Jace nodded, and then seemed to remember that I wasn't (shouldn't be) able to see. "Yep."

"What class?" The question might have seemed inane, but I was desperate to keep him from asking about the robots. Or the government men.

His face twisted oddly for a moment. "Politics."

A snort escaped my mouth. "You? Politics? Since when have you been ever interested in politics?"

Teasing Jace came more naturally than I had thought it might. I was so happy to see him again, it overshadowed how I was feeling about Macy and Liam.

Mom had her hands on my shoulders, rubbing them. She clucked.

"You need to eat more, love – don't think I didn't see how little you ate for supper."

Jace frowned at me. "You are looking a little like a toothpick there, Lex."

I waved off their concerns. "Eh, when I'm hungry, I eat. Besides, how's your gam-"

Jace's face disappeared as the internet kicked out. I frowned, clicking at the computer to try and regain the connection.

There was a shout from outside the house – a loud, deep voice. "Alexandra! Get out of the house _now!_"

I froze, before bolting for the back door, shoving the computer away. If there was someone wanting me to come out the front door, I was running for the back. The only ones who could hit that deep of a range happened to be of the metallic variety.

It sounded like Jolt. He was in the front, and hadn't specified. Back door was closer.

I took a moment to make sure my shoes were still on before I raced outside. Previous experience had taught me that even a moment of preparing would be helpful. A pair of red and green vehicles were nearly on top of the fence, horns beeping incessantly.

"Geez, stop to make energon before ya came out?!" One of the vehicles hollered.

The green one's door opened wide. "The Hatchet'll have our aft plates if we don't get ya out of here, safe an' sound!"

"Yeah, so get it! He's better at running!" I slipped inside swiftly, and the door slammed closed.

"Yeah! Wait, am not!" The vehicles backed up and immediately peeled off, rubber tires burning against the concrete.

"Are too!"

"Am not! I'm the best fighter!"

"Hah! You a wuss, pussy. You worse than the Witwicky kid!"

"Am not!" The red car slammed against the green one.

My heart was pounding, and my face was nearly glued to the windows, eying the places around us as we raced by.

"What's happened? Is my family safe?" I called out, interrupting them. Grabbing the communicator, I flicked it on, repeating my sentiments.

Silence was my only answer.

"Ratchet?" I asked cautiously.

Silence.

"What's going on?" I repeated, voice a little more shrill and insistent.

Still silence as my only answer. Even the twins that I was riding with were quiet.

They met up with a blue vehicle, racing along with them, away from my parent's home.

I clenched a fist. "I better get some answers here, guys."

"Um… we can't contact base. Getting' jammed."

"Yeah. Not cool, so we gotta split," the other twin piped up.

"If you're being jammed, how can you transmit to your brother?"

"We twins, stupid!" one jeered, shaking the car slightly. I caught sight of a black vehicle, chasing us and falling behind. My heart was thumping wildly.

"Yeah, twins got a special bond. Which you should know."

"At least you two aren't mental parasites," I muttered quietly, pulling my feet up to the seat and tucking my arms around them, still staring out the window.

"Hey, Alex!" One groused – most likely the one I was riding in. He shook the car, and my feet fell back to the floor to keep my balance. "I gotta stay clean, girl! Respect the seats!"

The other one snickered. "Heh, no chance of a femme 'facing _you_, you virus ridden glitch."

"We twins, moron!"

"Yeah, an' I gotta worry 'bout you crampin' my _style_ every fragging time!"

They started scrapping again, until the blue vehicle pushed in between them, with a clear warning to knock it off.

I was worried about my parents.

But I couldn't ask anyone, and Skids and Mudflap weren't helping me at all.

After a few more minutes, the twins skidded to a stop, Jolt moving beside the twin I was in, and both opening their doors, making Jolt only a step away from me.

He'd probably know more. I moved swiftly, heart pounding. Jolt scooped me up like one would a baby, cradling me in his interior.

"Jolt? What's happening?" I asked, voice quiet yet strong.

"Our connection to base has been jammed. There is a possibility of danger, therefore we are to remove you from danger."

I flicked a glance at the blue-lighted dashboard. "And my family? Are they in danger?"

"Potentially. However, we do not know what we are dealing with, and you are the priority."

I glared. "My family is just as important as I am!"

"I beg to differ. You are potentially the AllSpark, the object that created life for Cybertronians. Therefore you are more important to us."

His cold tone rankled me. "They're the most important people to me! I can't let them get hurt!"

"Considering that you are most likely the target, removing you from the location lowers the chance that they will be injured."

"Or increase it because they can be used as leverage against me!" I cried, nearly kicking at the leather dash.

"That is a possibility. However, I need to ensure your safety."

The red and green vehicles danced around the blue one, all three engines straining and racing forwards, away from danger.

I tried to make sense of what happened. "So, because you were jammed, I had to leave?"

"Jamming technology is typically more advanced than human technology, especially to jam Cybertronian tech. That narrows it to either 'cons – which myself and the minor twins are potentially not equipped to take – or Sector Seven. Either one would not be desired."

I breathed out slowly, trying to calm myself, and heard Jolt curse lowly.

"What?" I asked desperately. I'd never heard Jolt curse before.

"Still being jammed – definitely Sector Seven. The signal is like nothing I've ever encountered before."

"What can we do?" I asked. Why the hell was Sector Seven still after me? This whole freaking thing was insane. Three groups wanted me, and I seemed to be with the only group who actually didn't want to kill me. Well, other than one of the mental presences I was stuck with. Fantastic.

"Outrun them," Jolt grunted. "And hope that Ratchet figures out that I can't contact him, tell Optimus Prime, and send reinforcements."

His engine snarled angrily, and I was pushed back against the seat. Both seatbelts wrapped tightly around me, holding me still and keeping me immobile as the car rocked back and forth, weaving in and out of traffic.

* * *

Ratchet scowled. His internal chronometer was stating the time to be 0002. Jolt should have called in by now. He'd reinforced to the blue Volt that a thorough report would be sent via data burst every twelve hours.

The fragger was late.

He sent a quick data burst with a ping, to remind the apprentice medic. Usually the blue vehicle was on the ball with his information, always sending in reports early or exactly on time. He'd expect no less from his apprentice.

Blue optics narrowed. This was unusual.

He tried to contact Alex herself, and was denied access to the tiny communicator he'd given her.

A long established danger sense was niggling at him, from sub-routine programming.

-_Ratchet to Prime._-

-_Optimus Prime here. What is it, Ratchet?_-

-_Jolt is late with his report._-

There was a slight pause. –_How late is the report?_-

-_Two minutes._-

-_Ratchet, I understand your vigilance in protecting Alexandra Wells, howeve-_

He cut Optimus off, sending more data. _–I cannot reach Alex's communicator.-_

_-That changes things. I'm sending a team immediately. Continue to attempt to reach Alexandra Wells. Keep me notified.-_

_-Understood. Who are you sending?-_

_-I am sending Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. If it is the 'cons, then their front line fighting might be necessary, and if the jamming persists, they will be able to locate her through the bond.-_

Ratchet grunted. The two slaggers hadn't even been in the brig for a whole day. However, he understood Optimus' reasoning. Alexandra was too precious to consider losing, and the twins _were_ the only ones with any reliability of finding her even through jamming.

The bond she shared did have limits, but they _would_ be much better at finding her than others, randomly searching. And they _were_ powerful.

He growled to himself. –_Are you sending anyone else?-_

_-I will go as well.-_

_-Hmph. Optimus, how'll those fraggers learn if you let them out of the brig?-_

_-I understand your annoyance, old friend. However, her safety is more important than their disciplinary actions. If she _is _the AllSpark, then I fear great evil could be unleashed if she is taken.-_

_-I…understand. But I don't have to like it. And if they hurt even a strand of her hair, I'll deactivate them myself.-_

_-As is your right,- _Optimus said, the lightest tone of teasing in his voice.

* * *

The screen went black, and Jace frowned, looking at his computer's internet display. He still had full power, so it must have been on Alex's side. After a moment, his gaze narrowed.

She was at home. With his parents, right now. He couldn't ask on the online channel, in case it was being monitored. How had she gotten away from the aliens who had tortured her?

He flipped to his other computer, fingers twitching out a rhythm on the desk. He'd almost finished crunching through the data to locate the base. Q had been inquiring as to how progress was going for the last week.

Each time, he was able to say that he was closer to having a set of coordinates.

But now, now that his family and Alex were together, wasn't now the optimal time for getting her back?

He dialed Q's number.

The bastard picked up on the first ring. Who knew how he managed that. Did he do everything with it tied to his fingers?

With that and his ever present coffee, it was a wonder he even had spare fingers.

No wonder he needed lackeys for everything.

"Jace, what is it?"

"My sister is at home. I don't know if she's alone, or if she has aliens watching her every move, but now is an optimal time to get her back."

"You are on the ball, aren't you?" Q murmured, sounding quite blank.

"Q, this is our best chance! She's at home with my family, and we know exactly where that is."

His brain leaped to the next thought. "If the aliens are following her, then they know where my family lives. They could be in danger, we need to move them!"

"Relax, Jace, I've already thought of that. I had people watching your family as a precaution, and we are already mounting an operation to retrieve your sister. It appears that three aliens are also trailing her. They have her and are racing down the highway. I want you to come in on your computer, give us some backup. Typical encryption."

Jace's fingers were already flying over his keyboard. "Understood, sir. I'll be in and assisting in two minutes."

"Good. We'll get her back, Jace."

* * *

**AN: **Oh Jace. Why you no see Q will just take Alex?!

…That 20/60 thing might have been premature. Seriously premature. I was reading through my plot again (!) and… yeah, 20 is definitely not 1/3rd of the way complete. I had some… um… issues that needed resolving. Not to mention some chapters would be _huge_ if I didn't split them up. Like, 16k+ huge (looking at you, Ch. 26). Which I do not want to deal with. Editting that sucker would be a pain. So… stick with me a little longer?

Bahaha! I was looking through the old chapters and in Chapter 6, I mentioned that her Dad's name was George. Six lines later, his name had changed to Charles. Derp derp. WTH. So. I changed it so that both of them now read as George. And, uh, if it is mentioned anywhere before or after that as Charles, let me know, huh?

And her Mom's name. I might have mentioned it _once_(?) before? I can't remember if it _was_ Marion, or something else.

…I just don't have the patience or time to read nearly 150k to find one mention of her mother's name. Is that lazy?


	23. Insperatus

**Chapter 23: Insperatus**

(Latin: _unexpected, unlooked for, unanticipated_)

* * *

**AN: **We're getting more into an interaction stage now – Alex and the twins have _a lot_ to cover. Gunna be fun!

Life has been insane lately, but I think the craziness is just beginning… Moving, from two places, into two different places, switching jobs and getting different classes. Gah. So, if updates are a little screwy, bear with me?

* * *

Ratchet growled to himself, wishing that Jazz was still around, or better yet, Blaster. He wasn't as good at hacking as the saboteur; wasn't as thorough at collecting the information; wasn't as good at detecting viruses.

Optimus had him finding out where the jamming area was – an entire zone of northern Indiana was blank. Any outgoing frequencies were blocked, and there was no way he could hack in to the jamming – it was a masterful job. He wasn't fragging designed to take down jamming – that was Jazz's department.

Then again, no one else had had Jazz's skills. So expecting any other 'bot to fill his spot was ludicrous.

On the other hand, who would expect the humans, with their meager skills in technology, to even have a jamming signal with the strength to stop a 'bot? He was continually being surprised by these little organic creatures. They had such vitality.

Thankfully, Optimus had only wanted him to follow the jamming signal. He sent the new location of the jamming to the three 'bots on the rescue mission.

All three sent a quick acceptance ping, and he continued monitoring.

They were keeping their external communications more limited, mainly because they were unsure of the capabilities of this government group. If the humans had a jamming signal of this strength, then who was to say they could not hack their communications?

* * *

Sunstreaker had been ignoring him for over a joor now. Sideswipe didn't _do_ 'ignored' very well.

He'd been needling the quiet Lamborghini for the whole time, poking at him verbally. While they were in the brig, Ironhide had stormed out around a quarter-joor in, guns steaming with the desire to blow holes in either twin. More likely to be holes in his silver chassis though – Sunny'd been completely quiet.

Which was unusual. Sure, Sunny wasn't verbose, per se, but usually he at least told Sideswipe to mute it. He'd been silent through the brig, and even when Optimus had shown up, giving them orders to assist him in finding Alexandra Wells, since they had the best chance at finding her due to the glitched bond. Optimus Prime'd sent them each a data burst of the sit rep, and Sideswipe had snickered, engine revving hotly.

It stood to reason that the human would get in trouble with three 'bot guardians around her, less than an orn later. What a track record. Sunny had just glared at Optimus, not even happy to be out of the brig.

Sunstreaker had even been silent all the way through the plane ride to the States, all joor and a half of that. It was amazing – usually Sunstreaker only groused this long about a ruined art project, or something wrong with his armour.

And with Alex too far away, he couldn't tell what was bothering his other half.

Sideswipe hated it.

He nudged his side into his brooding twin's gleaming yellow paint, shining brightly in the light from Prime's headlights (with one small scratch from before, in the brig). The yellow Lamborghini's engine snarled wildly, and Sunstreaker snapped over the closed line, _"Don't touch me, fragger!"_

Sideswipe snickered, bumping him again. He was _good_ at being annoying – eventually, Sunny'd snap and beat the slag out of him (or, he'd try to) and then they'd both feel much better. It had been too long since they had had a decent fight with the fragging 'cons.

Sunstreaker snapped, throwing his flank sideways in an attempt to knock the silver Corvette off the side of the road. It was unsuccessful; merely leaving a scratch in both of their sides. A few of Sunstreaker's colour nanites had been smashed into Sideswipe's side, creating a swift flash of yellow on his side before they ran out of energy and turned grey.

_"Sunny, you're streaking again,"_ he taunted. Optimus Prime's engine rumbled behind them; he sounded like his patience was almost at an end. That, or he thought they were a danger to the civilian cars on this highway. One never knew with Prime.

Whatever Sunny might have said was halted as all three felt the weird sensation of complete jamming. Radar, internal communications; all frequencies were being jammed.

Finally, they'd reached the dead-air zone that Ratchet had been steering them towards for the last half-joor or so.

Sideswipe hoped that this didn't affect the twin conduit-slash-bond that he and Sunny had with Alexandra.

* * *

Jolt and the twins hadn't stopped once. My heart rate had slowed down a few hours ago and my vision had faded at about the same time. My head was throbbing, eyes burning hotly. There was still no comm. system available between the three, so Jolt didn't know if the twin bond between the two was jammed or not.

I had spent some of the time lightly napping, with Jolt accommodating me by slipping the seat way back, heating up the cabin, and putting on the softest music. It was nice of him; I thanked him even though my body felt like my guts were going to dance the Macarena, and my eyes were pulsing hotly.

But even adrenaline fades. Mine did so as quickly as it had come, causing me to go lax in the warm, plush seat and fall into a light doze.

Jolt had everything – when my stomach had growled lightly, he had popped open his dashboard and told me to pull out something to eat to raise my lowered blood sugar and 'appease' my intestines. Jolt was such a sweetheart. I wasn't about to tell him that though.

I suspected a Ratchet influence – perhaps Jolt had been threatened with a wrench to the head? Really though, what kind of 'bot carried granola bars and bottles of water in his massive dashboard? I had wondered about the inky blackness of the dashboard. It had been so _large_. When I asked, he had mentioned something about a subspace, and immediately launched into some sort of lecture about how subspacing was a way of bending space to hold more mass, and a part of how they were able to transform themselves into vehicles. Most of it washed right over my head, and I was nearly falling asleep behind the wheel.

Thankfully I wasn't driving.

He had been silent for the past few hours, but that was alright by me. I didn't want to hear a lot of chatter. Driving with one of the twins might have been enough to drive me batty, or contemplate jumping out of the car to end it all.

I liked Jolt. He'd told me that he had only been a medical apprentice for a few vorns, so he wasn't as trusted in the med bay. A tiny part of me wondered what the twins thought of Jolt.

After all, they seemed to always be in the med bay for one thing or another – sometimes because of fighting, sometimes because of each other. They had such a messed up dynamic, it was amazing. I didn't think I'd ever understand it.

And that was okay. I didn't have to understand it. Heck, I didn't even have to talk to them. If I let them talk, using my head as a channel, that was my business. No more crap about how they were in pain, or it was killing them, or whatever.

My way or the highway.

I slumped down in the seat slightly, knowing that I couldn't go through with such a heavy-handed plan. I wasn't a tough, strong metallic alien warrior. I was just a weak, pained, completely human (well, maybe not anymore) female. They barely listened to Optimus Prime, or Ratchet. What hope did I have that they wouldn't just stomp all over me, again?

No, I wouldn't take that. Even if I couldn't go see my family, I could go travel. Or something. Stay at a different base, work on my eyes – because I was getting more vision every time, wasn't it logical to think that I could work on it? Maybe increase my heart rate every day (running? Jogging? Jumping?) and see for a while? If I ran, I'd need my eyes so I didn't run off a cliff or into a wall or something, so that should help me out.

And if I did end up with some bruising, that was fine. I'd suffered worse than bruises already.

Taking in a deep draught of air, I nearly missed the snarled curse that Jolt issued. "Frag! What are those morons _doing_?" he growled, engine revving dangerously.

I leaned forwards, blackness in front of my eyes.

"What? What is it?" I asked, feeling my stomach clench tightly, and my fingers tighten on the dash beneath my palms.

Jolt's engine continued to growl.

"Skids and Mudflap decided to go on without us," he snarled. "They went in two different directions, the little fraggers. Wait until I get my servos on them! The plan was to stick together!"

"They left?" I said, trying to figure out what was going on.

"I believe that they think the humans will not have enough resources to chase all of us, but if we're forced into a confrontation, I'm not the strongest fighter. Especially with Prime's decision to not harm any humans. I'm following Mudflap."

I swallowed, images of a bloody red and yellow Lamborghini curled over me, stabbing tongues of electricity into my back. _He_ didn't care about Optimus Prime's declaration, clearly.

Maybe that was what we needed here. A 'bot who wasn't so focused on preserving the life of scum-humans. Then again, who was I to judge who was innocent and who deserved to die? I wasn't a judge.

Slipping lower in the seat, like that could help me hide from any prying human eyes, I tried to calm down. They wouldn't catch us; Jolt was fast, and we hadn't been caught yet.

When had I become more comfortable with the giant alien warriors than with my own species?

_Ever since my own species tried to cut me apart._

Taking in a deep breath, I felt my fingers shaking slightly against my thighs.

Something nudged Jolt's side, making my heart rate soar and my eyes flash in that direction. His engine groaned slightly.

It was dark outside the window, with tiny ribbons of light indicating other vehicles. Any one of those could be one of the government guys – Sector Seven. Any one of them could be waiting with poised knives, ready to slice me to pieces, ready to take Jolt down and deactivate him.

Hell, they'd probably torture him too – why not? See if a living robot could feel pain.

My eyes flared back to darkness, and my head throbbed.

"What was that?" I asked, after a moment of silence.

Jolt's vents exhaled a gust of warm air over my chilled body. "I was too close to a sign."

"You took out a sign? Why?"

"The other driver was too slow, I had to improvise."

At least he could see where he was going – he'd be a better driver than me any day. Then again, if I was a car, then I'd have been able to drive like that too.

It was concerning that we were still close enough to the government guys that Jolt felt he needed to take out the innocent signs to keep his lead. I wished for more firepower; that I was stronger and could help him out.

I froze as something nudged in my mind.

_::Sunstreaker? Sideswipe?::_ I asked, cautiously. How had they gotten here? Speak of the devil…

Images of flying washed through my mind. Duh. Of course, cars couldn't drive through water.

Sideswipe spoke up, relief flooding his mind, overflowing into my own. Or was it still just his mind? I couldn't tell.

_::We can go through the water, no problem! Sunny hates it though – bad for his paint,:: _he mocked.

_::Mute it, Sideswipe. You know how glitched the nanites can get?::_

_::Yeah, yeah, the shade is a few microns off the normal canary yellow, I get it.:: _This took place within a few moments, faster than I could have said my name. They seemed to be their usual selves, but I could feel a sharp edge of tension within both of them, which flooded into me, making me twitchy. I inspected deeper, wondering inanely how they had been.

The feeling within the two was of relief, tension and frustration as well as regret.

Sideswipe seemed to focus in on me, which only made sense since I was digging around in his brains. I felt my body tense in the front seat of Jolt.

_::You're with Jolt. Where are you?:: _Completely business-like, flat and professional.

A slight feeling of relief welled within me. I'd heard some of the 'bots talking around the base – apparently, the twins were really hot stuff when it came to the battlefield, so they'd be strong enough to help with any human confrontation, right?

_::Yeah, yeah, I know I'm amazing, but I need to know where you are, Alex,::_ Sideswipe teased, preening mentally. Geez, I had forgotten how weird it was that they knew _all_ my thoughts.

There was a flare of resentment from Sunstreaker. I recoiled from him mentally.

Sideswipe growled, and though it was aimed at his twin, the feeling washed through me to get to Sunstreaker. It made me feel like running away and shrieking. Clearly, Sunstreaker was made of tougher stuff, because he didn't respond at all.

He did send a little puff of a condescending air at me though, as if it was weak to be terrified when your own mind seems to be pissed off with you.

I asked Jolt, still feeling like a ping pong ball between two extremely annoyed and argumentative players.

_::We're just past Cold Water, in Michigan, on the 69,:: _I reported to the twins.

There was an explosive oath from Sideswipe. _::Pit, that's nearly a hundred miles from here!::_

The dual presence in my mind eased a bit, and I got the feeling that they were doing something else at the moment, before both of them came rushing back.

_::I'm really pissed at you two,:: _I blurted out, mentally, before I could take it back, or shut it up and hide it away. What was I doing, picking a fight _now_, of all freaking times?

_::We're not thrilled with you either,:: _Sunstreaker growled, speaking to me for the first time in months.

_::Primus, Alex, _now_?:: _Sideswipe whined. _::Couldn't this have waited until, I dunno, you _aren't_ being chased by crazed humans with jamming capabilities?::_

I felt like running away again, so they'd _get out of my mind._ Until this moment, I had forgotten how nice it was to be in control of your own mind, with no one listening to your every thought.

_::It isn't by choice,::_ Sunstreaker snapped, sending aggressive notions towards me.

_::Sunstreaker!:: _Sideswipe snarled. _::Be nice to our human!::_

_Their_ human? What had I missed? Last I knew, I was _my own_ human! They really only wanted me for the bond, anyways. _Their _bond. Not the weird, warped bond between the three of us that really only aggravated all three of us.

_::You're the one that wants to keep it, Sideswipe, not me. I want it _out._::_

My eyes narrowed. _::Hey! That's not fair! I have had no choice whatsoever in this mental shit storm, and if you think I'm going to take it any more, you are _wrong!_ Yes, we are all wrapped into this bond-thing together. Yes, you hate me. I'm not so fond of you either, Sunshine! But like it or not, we are all tied together for a while! Primus! Stop acting like a toddler who can't get his own way!::_

Sideswipe snickered. _::You said Primus!::_

_::No I didn't,::_ I shot back, still annoyed and overwhelmed. I felt like I might start to cry again.

_::I think you overestimate your place, human,:: _Sunstreaker snapped out.

_::I think I'm perfectly justified in this. You _tortured_ me, Sunstreaker. I'm not the type of person to forgive and forget so easily. I want both of you out, and if I want to shut you out, I damn well will. Even if you kill me, I will not give in to either of you. I promise you this.:: _My mental voice was strong, and as it was sent to Sunstreaker in a rush, I was surprised by how much I really believed this. I would not give in to them, I would stand my ground.

Even if it resulted in my death. All that dithering about earlier had crystalized in this decision.

My self respect and freedom was worth my life. Both of them were just massive, intergalactic (and possibly ancient) bullies. Clearly, some things were constant throughout the world.

And I had Ratchet to back me up. So I was not afraid.

Had I forgiven them? Hell no.

Sideswipe made a very human wolf whistle. _::Woah, Alex… That was hot!::_

I felt like smashing my face into a wall, or Jolt's dashboard. Hot? Sideswipe was deranged. Or perhaps he had the definition of 'hot' wrong. Yeah. My emotions had been running on the hot side, so it had probably been spilling into the bond.

Sunstreaker was silent, but I could feel his anger through the bond.

Sideswipe was still snickering away. Sunstreaker clouted him through the bond, causing my head to sting from the weird phantom pain. I winced, rubbing the spot.

Jolt noticed. "Alex? Are you alright?"

I nodded, still rubbing the spot lightly. "Yeah. The twins hit each other through the bond, and it hits me too."

There was a differing rev to the engine. "You are in contact with the twins?"

I tried to shut them out of my mind, but both of them were quite insistent on maintaining contact. "Yeah, for a few minutes now, I think."

_::Actually, it's only been about thirty of your human seconds,:: _Sideswipe commented, knowing what I was telling Jolt.

_::Stop that!::_ I scolded him, trying to tune back in to what Jolt was saying.

"-told me when you first made contact. I need to know where they are so we can meet up and get out of here. Do they have transport?"

I relayed the information.

_::Yeah, Prime's with us. We're being jammed too – tell Jolt that he should turn around, head south on a different road. Once we all meet up, we can go for the plane:: _The joking had dropped from his voice, leaving him cold and professional. It was odd to hear from the normally joking twin.

Jolt took the information in quickly, and his engine snarled angrily. I felt a wave of tiredness wash over me as he ranted. It had been a really long day.

"Frag those twins! Tell them that Skids is somewhere out there, unknown location. Moronic glitch probably tried to escape the jamming field to contact HQ. But if they have another mobile tracking and jamming unit, then he could still be jammed too."

Sideswipe replied again. _::Not a problem. If we got Mudflap, we can easily locate Skids, even if they only have the faintest sparkbond between them. Priority is getting Alex and possible 'bots out before 'cons show up.::_

Jolt agreed, and with a peel of tires on pavement, we were off on to another road. My attention was pulled by the twins again. My eyes drooped shut with exhaustion. This was insanely tiring, and I had been up for hours and hours before this. There was some wild swerving and jinking, during which Jolt had tightened the seatbelt around me.

_::Alex.:: _Sideswipe rumbled, a deep bass sound that seemed to fill my floating head. _::Don't offline just yet, we need to you communicate with Jolt.::_

_::Okay,::_ I agreed sleepily. My eyes felt like each one weighed a million pounds, aching and swollen. It was so much better to just leave them closed.

_::How was the visit with your family?:: _Sideswipe asked, sounding slightly off. I shrugged, before remembering groggily that he couldn't see me. A smile curled my lips.

_::It was great. I miss them, a lot,::_ I confessed, feeling soft and gooey, even though I should feel hard and crunchy while dealing with these two.

There was a mental snort from Sunstreaker. _::Good going, Sideswipe. You broke it.::_

_::I'm not an it,::_ I lazily protested, reclining more in the seat. It felt like Jolt was blowing streams of freezing cold air at my face, but I could barely feel it. I was warm and toasty, right here. Even the bumpy and hard seat beneath me was okay to sleep in.

Sideswipe snarled at his twin. _::She's not an it, Sunstreaker.::_

_::Just because you pander to it is no reason for me to do so,:: _the angry twin responded, a wash of emotion accompanying the words. I tried to figure out what the emotion was, but it slipped through my metaphysical fingers.

_Jealousy_, the little voice whispered.

_::So that's what it is,::_ I answered. My mind swayed again, and blackness overtook me.

* * *

Sideswipe was concerned that his tiny reprieve with Sunstreaker was about to end when she went offline. It had before – when she was unconscious, they couldn't talk.

Now, she was clearly offline, but they could talk to each other as easily as if she were online. It felt a little different; more soft and malleable. He was just thankful that his spark wasn't sending him readings of being incomplete anymore. Ratchet would have to know about this at some point, but right now, he and Sunny needed to talk.

_::She's as real as we are, Sunstreaker,::_ Sideswipe said, using his twin's whole name to emphasize the importance of what he was saying. He continued on, jumping into the discussion that he _knew_ had been eating at him and his other half. Perhaps they were more like 'cons than he had initially thought if neither of them had a problem using a sentient, civilian human creature as a physical and mental punching bag.

This was a discussion a long time in the making.

Sunstreaker didn't respond, but Sideswipe knew that his twin had heard him. Sunny's silence was an indicator that he disagreed. Although _how _he could think the little creature wasn't as alive as either of them was fragged up.

In some ways, she was _more_ alive than they were. Her life span was only around a vorn, and within that time frame, she'd have picked some sort of mate, reproduced (Primus, did they ever reproduce) – his engine shuddered slightly as he drove – lived a few more orns and die. All that vitality in such a small package.

When she died (Primus, less than a vorn!), would they go mad with not being able to contact each other, and be either deactivated or put into indefinite stasis?

Depressing.

Finally, his counterpart spoke. _::I don't like it. Pretentious little pile of organic scrap.::_

_::That's the thinking that got us into trouble before, Sunstreaker,::_ Sideswipe warned.

The buttery yellow Lamborghini's engine snarled. _::It thinks it can muscle in on _our_ bond,::_

_::_She_ wants out of the bond, more than you want her out. I want us to be fixed too, Sunny – tell Ratchet about Shockwave. That's our best clue, right there! She's only going to make it another vorn, tops. That might not be long enough to get the bond fixed.::_

Sunstreaker was silent, clearly stewing over something. Sideswipe knew that Sunstreaker was a master of holding grudges, but he had never held one against Sideswipe, not seriously. Sure, he'd played a few pranks on his twin's paint nanites, but after getting his aft beaten into the ground and replacing all his premium quality, high-grade wax, the grudge had been cleared.

Now, he was quite sure Sunny was holding a major grudge against him for not coming to find him or helping him out of Shockwave's lab.

He hadn't known about Shockwave – if he had, he'd have dropped everything to go find his other half, his twin. He'd just thought that Sunstreaker had stopped along the way and was taking a bit longer, or was momentarily delayed. If it had gone on any longer, he'd have gone to find his twin, for sure.

Or maybe it was because he was persisting in treating her like a member of the bond. But he wasn't, not really. The human _was_ a part of the bond, and he was treating her nicely, like he would anyone. Primus, he hadn't even pranked her yet! Then again, there hadn't really been a lot of time they were in the same base together.

But she wasn't really a part of the bond. She was an unwelcome intruder into their sparks, into their very beings. It was weird and unnatural for a human to be that close to both of their sparks. Yet they needed her, they needed her to keep their sparks connected.

Sunstreaker spoke, cutting into his twin's musing. _::I'm not a Decepticon.::_

Ah. Here was the real meat of the issue.

_::Neither of us are,:: _ he sent back, knowing as he did so that it wasn't enough, wasn't anywhere near what his twin needed, but the only truth he could give him.

_::You'd have done the same fragging thing,:: _Sunstreaker shot back at him, trying to justify it and connect it.

_::Tortured a sentient creature that was broadcasting a signal as _you_? Not a chance, Sunny,:: _he sent back. He'd have never hurt anything that was blasting Sunstreaker's unique code at him. Especially since he had Sunstreaker's memory of the event, and she had also been causing his spark to send messages of completeness to his main processor. No, he'd never have tortured her.

There was a moment of silence. _::I'm not a fragging 'con,:: _Sunstreaker said again, softer and slightly weaker. This was the side that the vain, prideful mech never let anyone else see, ever. Only Sideswipe, his other half. Only Sideswipe, whom he trusted with his whole self, insecurities and all.

_::No, you're not,::_ Sideswipe soothed, wishing they were somewhere more private so he could share with his twin, reinforce that he wasn't alone, didn't have to do it on his own, would never be alone as long as Sideswipe was around, and that he was loved and cherished beyond everything else.

But they had to go get the offline human who was warped into their bond.

It had been stressful for the two, not being able to be their complete selves with a human around. Really, really weird were another couple of words for it. Sideswipe hated how Sunstreaker couldn't be his normal self internally, which he needed to blow off steam, and talk things over with Sideswipe.

He revved his engine, loving the sound it created.

Hopefully, this little snafu with Alex would create something for him and Sunny to rip apart. Or blow apart. But ripping it manually apart was much more satisfying.

* * *

Jace had hacked into the satellites, but couldn't get anything more than that. He had found out that the little blue Chevy Volt was the one that was being chased, but he wasn't letting any of his group know that. Clearly, they already knew that the Volt was the alien. He only knew because he'd hacked into all the files on the NBE's that Q had. The other two were following the

The Volt was NBE-11, if he remembered correctly.

Following the high speed chase was thrilling, as he jumped from satellite to satellite, following the progress swiftly; he was planning where they could trap the three NBE aliens in the easiest method. But the aliens were tricky, slipping down highways at top speeds, racing down the slick roads in the dark. They weren't using their running lights, which made tracing them more difficult.

Jace loved difficult.

He followed it for hours, downing energy drinks and granola bars, feeling his eyes become gummy with sleep. Rubbing his eyes with one hand, he moved to the next satellite, wondering what the hell was taking Q's men so long to catch the vehicle. Luckily, there was plenty of satellite feeds to choose from, as they moved to cover the country.

Trying to slow the alien down via racing after it wasn't going to help at all. And it was into Michigan now – was the plan to let it escape? The vehicle turned around suddenly, only minutes after one of the vehicles – the red one – had taken off, splitting off at a different angle. A few of the cars followed after it.

Angrily, he slammed his fingers down on the computer keys, feeling his head ache.

Suddenly into the satellite view shot three forms, paint gleaming in shots in the light of the lightposts – a buttery yellow Lamborghini Gallardo, silver Corvette, and red, blue-flamed Peterbilt semi.

He sat up straight, eyes fixed tight on the screen.

"Shit," he breathed, watching the truck and cars with wide eyes. Sure, he knew they were coming to help the alien who had his sister, but, damn, that Lamborghini had a hot set of wheels to hide in.

How long had they been following? Damn it, he should have know that when the Volt turned around, it had been going to rendezvous with other aliens. Just because they were jamming didn't mean the aliens didn't have more advanced technology.

Cracking his knuckles, the young man flung himself over the keyboard, fingers tapping wildly on the worn keys.

He tapped out a fast e-mail to Q, encoding the video data that he had seen, of the three new aliens showing up, just in case the moron was sleeping and missing it. Chances were that he'd seen it, but it didn't hurt.

He was able to hack into the street camera on the view, getting a different viewpoint. Before, the vehicles had been moving too quickly to get a street view on them, and the jamming had caused the shots to be extremely static-filled and grainy. Satellite was better.

The Lamborghini and Corvette slammed on their brakes, smoke rising from them, spinning around to face the vans and SUV's following the Volt. They transformed and attacked the dozen agents following them, ripping the little vehicles apart with unconscious ease. Jace gaped at the massive aliens, working together in eerie tandem, both ripping apart the last one. Their fists tapped briefly as they both gripped the roof tightly before pulling back, tearing the vehicle apart in shards of twisted metal.

Smoke and fuel poured from the twisted hull of one vehicle – he could faintly see movement of people inside the vehicles.

The Lamborghini fisted a hand into the engine of one of the vehicles, breaking and denting the metal harshly. If the vehicle had been drivable before, it wasn't any longer. The whole encounter took less than thirty seconds.

The two were beautiful, deadly killing machines. Literally.

Then they both transformed again, and took off, fishtailing and leaving smoking heaps with burned rubber strips behind them on the asphalt. Jace had been tracking the other three vehicles too, and the two cars caught up quickly, falling into position ahead of the other three.

The camera crapped out on him, flickering into a grey screen of nothing; just static.

"Holy shit," he whispered. How was Q going to get his sister back from those monsters? They had torn apart the dozen vehicles following them with lazy ease.

Jace swirled to his other computer, sending Q the e-mail with all the video footage that he had followed, from the time they had come to the house and met up with the other aliens who had taken 'Lex.

Less than a minute later, his phone vibrated, and he flicked it open without looking at the name. He knew it was Q, and the number would be labeled as restricted.

"Yeah," he muttered, still looking at his computer. Cradling the phone between his shoulder and his face, he flipped to his other screen, seeing the shots of his mother holding his father, crying.

His stomach twisted slightly. She _needed_ to come home, the sooner, the better. Who knew what the aliens had done to her already?

Although he did wonder how she had convinced them to take her to her family.

"The extraction did not go as planned."

Oh, Q was _mad_. Nothing he could do about that.

Still watching his family, he shrugged. "Way I see it, she should have been removed hours ago, instead of following the three NBE's for nearly a dozen hours."

Q's tone was strained. Some part of Jace wanted him to wind that up; see if he could get Q to snap. "There were some unforeseen complications."  
"Like three other aliens?" Jace's tone was full of snark. His fingers flew over the keyboard, honing in on his family, watching his father's eyes.

Switching to his other screen, he frowned at the blank road. The static was gone, and the aliens were probably long gone. He could put a trace on the static screens, and follow them that way, but there seemed to be no point right now.

Q paused. "Yes. Like the other three aliens." His voice was closer to a hiss than words.

Jace quirked an eyebrow, despite his supreme annoyance with Q. Sector Seven had had more than enough time to get her away from the aliens, and they had failed.

Just another reason for him to figure out how to get her back on his own. He should have known that if he wanted to get her back, he'd have to do it on his own. He was the only one he could trust around here. Looking through the video footage on his family, he frowned and paused the camera on a certain spot. It looked like his father handed a silver cell phone to his sister.

That was his in, right there. He'd trace the number, find her location. That would satisfy Q too – if he deigned to let his boss know.

He swapped to the other screen, eyeing the little green car that was racing along, being followed by three vehicles. The satellite view was grainy, and since it was dark, he could barely see the little vehicles. Maybe Q could get this one – although his track record was shoddy. Sector Seven had collected, what, four NBE's over all the years it had been around?

"So, what do I owe this call to?" he asked sarcastically, already planning his next move. This had just proved how out of his depth Q was. Jammers were all well and good, but if you didn't actually make a move on the aliens, then the jamming was pointless. If it had done anything at all.

"I want you to be more involved in the next mission. I am also inquiring as to how your current mission is progressing."

Jace tightened his hands infinitesimally. "I've nearly cracked the coding. I need another day."

"Very well." Q still sounded mad. Understandable – he _had_ failed, after all.

He called his parents, already hacking back in his parent's purchases, looking for the number they'd bought.

"Mom, what happened?" he asked, making his voice sound frantic – which fit from what he knew. As far as he knew, he'd commented that she was getting too skinny – were the aliens not feeding her? – and she'd been about to rib him on his gaming when the screen died (due to Sector Seven jamming).

"Oh honey, Alex had to leave. You know how it is."

"But she was only home for a few hours?" he asked carefully, trying to get his parents to tell him what he already knew so that he could talk to them more candidly.

"Well, she is…you know," his mother whispered, and when he looked at what she was doing on screen, she was cupping the phone close to her mouth. He smiled, watching her – she was so innocent and childish. Something that 'Lex had picked up from her, more than the girl liked to admit.

How was he supposed to protect his little sister if she wasn't around?

"Yeah, I know. Geez, I hope she's okay. Any way to contact her?"

There was a pause – he knew his parents had given her a phone.

"I won't call it, I promise. I just want to know so that if a number shows up as restricted, I'll answer."

His mom hesitated slightly still, before whispering a number swiftly. Immediately, Jace was tracing the number.

"Okay, I-"

His gaze was caught when the front door blew in, and his mother shrieked in his ear.

"Marion!" His father called out, and she shrieked again, dropping the phone. Jace swore, disconnecting the call, and immediately calling Q. A red eyed alien, looking eerily reminiscent of a mountain lion, was stalking towards his father, steps predatory and heavy.

Maybe there were some Sector Seven agents in the area that could help. He was hacking his way through, slicing codes with the ease of years.

There was no one in the area. He swore harshly, eyes fixed on the screen, fingers flying wildly over the keys.

The message in his ear was bland. "You have reached me. Leave a message." The voice of the speaker was feminine and cool – like Q if Q were a girl.

Where could he be?! This was Jace's family at stake!

Another alien – silver and black – sauntered inside. This one transmitted something to the panther, and it snarled at the silver and black one warningly. The bipedal NBE raised its hands, much like a human would, to placate another human.

Its red eyes gleamed manically.

"This is seven-three-three-one-eight-nine. I have two hostile NBE's within the residence of the Field household. We need backup – immediately." He slapped the phone shut, chucking it on to his desk.

What could he do? There was nothing.

He could –no, that wouldn't work. His mother had stopped screaming, and was now just emitting light whimpering sounds, tear marks streaking her cheeks.

Ten different plans washed through his mind, none of them viable or feasible.

The lithe panther looked directly at the camera with one red eye, metal teeth shining in the light from his mother's upright lamps.

The panther had its tail wrapped around his father's throat. The little bipedal robot shook his mother by the arm; he heard the crunch of bones breaking and his mother blanched, face tightening and paling wildly. She shrieked when it shook her again.

"Where is the girl – Alexandra Wells?" Its voice had a slightly metallic overtone, but was perfectly understandable.

His mother, scatterbrained and well-meaning, stood firm, despite the broken arm and blood streaming from a cut on her forehead.

"I will not betray my girl – and I don't know." Her face was tight; drawn with pain and tight with her determination.

The metal creature blared something in a different language to the panther, holding his father by the throat.

The panther spoke next. "If you do not tell us what we want to know, I will kill your husband." This one's voice was more firm, and slightly deeper.

His father's glasses had come off, and blood was slipping down his neck from where the panther's tail had ripped the tender flesh.

The bipedal one grinned ferally. "We came for the girl. Tell us where she is, and we'll let you go."

"Don't tell them anything – they aren't going to let us go." His father's voice was firm, strong, despite the pain he must be in.

Jace's heart crunched. To lose his other family? Not an option. But what could he do? They were so strong – he wasn't sure if he could stay firm like they were.

His mom spoke up again. "I don't know what kind of freaks or military quacks you are, but I will _never_ give my daughter to monsters like you." Jace was transfixed by his mom's eyes – they were so fiery, so fierce and protective.

The bipedal one made a sound of outrage. "Freaks? We aren't slagging freaks, you damned rotting flesh-bags!" It smashed a fist into his mother's throat, and she dropped, face bloody and slack. The older woman was still on the floor. It shook a hand in disgust, blood dripping on to the ground.

Jace choked, and his father didn't respond well. He tried to attack the bipedal one, and the panther lifted him into the air by his neck.

He was crying, and so was Jace. There was a steadily expanding pool of blood on the cream carpet below the prone figure of his mother.

His father was trying to hit the bipedal one, silent tears streaming down his cheeks.

The panther tightened his hold on his dad's neck until his face was purple and red, hands grasping the metal tightly.

"Now, tell us where she is. Or we'll rip off a leg," the bipedal one said calmly, still flicking blood off its hand.

His dad was silent, eyes filled with hatred. Jace's heart ached. His fingers had stilled on the keys, merely watching what was happening with wide eyes and a pained chest.

There was a crack, and his dad's body slumped, lifeless. The panther dropped him to the ground; his limbs sprawled like strands of yarn.

The aliens chattered for a minute in that bizarre other language, the panther saying less than the bipedal black and silver alien.

Jace's bloodshot eyes tightened with hatred. He was taking these bastards down – every single one of them.

* * *

**AN:** …wow. Just… I wasn't expecting Sideswipe to open up like that, and not to the degree that he did. But, I guess I have a better grasp on Sunstreaker's psyche now? At least, for this story. :) Can I get a 'yay' for unexpected character studies?

I realize that in my story, which is sort of set in 2008-ish, the minor twins (Skids and Mudflap) should have been the ice cream truck, if they were anything at all. But… I'm taking a little creative license here. I mean, two, stuck together when they don't have to be? You lose all stability, any special tracing due to using bond-talk, AND it looked ridiculous. So. Excuse my artistic license. :3

You know I love you guys, right? But a review really goes a long way in motivating me. Even a few words really makes my day, and sort of justifies the effort I am putting in here. Even if a tenth of you reviewed, I'd be over the moon. :)


	24. Punire

**Chapter 24: P****ūnīre**

(Latin: _to inflict punishment upon_)

* * *

**AN: I feel like the twins and Alex are dancing around the fragging issue here. Just spit it out already! **

**At first, this thing was about… 7k for what I had planned for the chapter. And then the editing came, and it didn't feel right. So I planned out a little more and the next thing I know, BAM! 9k fragger is born! So that is part of the reason that this took so long.**

**Thank you all who reviewed! I'm gunna list all of them, just because it was insane!**

**If you find any editing mistakes, spelling mistakes, whatever, let me know, okay? I'm pretty much dead over here. Wayyyy too much work lately. No idea when the next update is - I'll do my best though. :)**

**Reviewers:** Blame the Faceless, LizKuchiki, Sweetspark22, Penguin-former-5, Casamora, RandomCitizen, fanpire.x, ZabuzasGirl, midnight84118, transfan15, XxShadowfangxX, J.C Jackals, Lady Minuialwen, Guest, Autobot-Bre, LordsFire, Zedus and Valeria, Christarpax, Death of a Dark Angel, KeepingThemAtBay, Khalthar, Guest, Chippr, Second daughter of Eve, Aurrawings, Sunstreaker's Squishy, Lunar Mist, Primordial Soul, Goldendreams257, Mercedes Wolfcry, SJSGirl, Gugh, anonomon, **and** Bee4ever. **HOLY CRAP. THANK YOU.**

* * *

My eyes didn't even have time to open before a presence in my mind was speaking, raging through my headache.

_::Alex! You're online!::_ Sideswipe sounded perky and far too awake for my groggy thoughts. He coaxed me like one would a dog, chanting. _::Come on, come on, a little more, there ya go!::_

I wanted to take a two by four to his head.

_::Sideswipe? Where are we?:: _I asked, head pounding. My eyes felt slightly gummy, and tight. At least they didn't feel quite as pained.

I got the feeling of a mental shrug. _::Germany.::_

I didn't know any German. There was a mechanical laugh through the bond. _::You're assuming the Hatchet'll let you out of the medbay.::_

_::Why Germany?:: _

Another mental shrug. _::Hot cars, Autobahn – perfect location.::_

That made sense – sort of, in the way that Sideswipe ever made sense. And the Decepticons had figured out the location of the base, so it only made sense to move, and confuse the cons a little. No use in knowing exactly where the base was. I felt like I was missing something, but the feeling faded.

I blinked. How did I know that? Maybe I had pulled it from one of the twins.

_::Did all the military men come with us?::_

_::Yep. Why? Want to-:: _I got the feeling that Sideswipe cut himself off from saying anything else. The feeling through the bond was one of delight, rolled with something that made my guts churn. I couldn't pinpoint it exactly.

Suddenly, the thing that was missing made sense.

I couldn't feel Sunstreaker in my mind.

Actually, that wasn't quite true. I could feel him, but faintly, like a door had been slammed in between our minds. I got the feeling that he didn't want anyone to talk to him, mentally or otherwise.

And that he hated me; wished that I was dead. Was even actively planning it.

From what I could glean, stuck outside the door, was that he was planning my death. In some way that wouldn't mar his perfect, pristine coating. My body shivered slightly, cold washing down my spine. The way he viewed death was chilling – like it was merely something people did, like eating lunch or having a bath. Mundane.

Life and death should never be so callously decided.

There was the muted feeling of derision and annoyance.

_::Stay out of my processor, human,::_ he threatened, before the door became an iron wall, and I was unable to feel anything from him.

Almost immediately, my head started to hurt, a slow, aching throb that matched my heartbeat.

Sideswipe sighed. _::Sunny can be a real glitch, huh?::_

I wondered why he was talking to me, and why he sounded so downtrodden.

_::Sunny's not talking to me, and I'm in the brig. Not a lot to do down here,:: _he added helpfully.

My eyebrows furrowed. :_:Brig? What for?::_

There came another robot-sigh. _::I think it's just because they can't handle our combined sexiness,::_ he joked, voice light. I could feel the darkness behind his words though – there must be more to it. But I wasn't going to inquire any deeper. Whatever they were in the brig for, they probably deserved.

_::How long?::_ I asked, slightly curious.

_::Hmm, we've been devastatingly gorgeous our whole lives.::_

I rolled my eyes. _::Not that, smart-ass. How long in the brig?::_

_::Four months? I think that's how long eight orns is in human time – give or take a week or two.::_

_::Huh. Don't envy you that,::_ I remarked. I couldn't resist adding in a crack at the transformer. _::I'd hate to be that sexy.::_

The mental impression of a smirk. _::I know. Life's rough.::_

His words, though said teasingly, made my mood sour. Life kind of sucked, actually.

Before I was pulled down into a darker mood, I changed the subject.

_::What's up with Sunstreaker? He's...um, boarded himself off,::_ I said, trying to be delicate about it, in case it was something like robot PMS. Which he seemed to suffer from nearly one hundred percent of the time.

_::He's being an aft, as usual. The fragger's slagged off at me. Probably for chipping his paint,:: _Sideswipe muttered.

I wasn't naive enough to believe that.

_::What's the harm in looking good?:: _I teased slightly. It was pretty obvious that Sideswipe's twin had a serious complex about keeping himself clean and shiny – it was clear in nearly every thought he had. I felt like I was hiding my true feelings under a veneer, and that the twins were as well. Part of me was grateful, and another part was annoyed. I was disgusted with myself – why was I so weak?

There was the distinct sensation of a person (or, in this case, a robot alien) rolling their eyes. How that translated to robot mannerisms, I wasn't entirely sure. It definitely had the same feeling through the bond though.

_::Primus. The last thing I need is _another_ Sunstreaker in my processor,:: _he laughed.

The innocent teasing rubbed me the wrong way, and before I could stop the words, they formed along the bond. _::I'm hardly about to start torturing people,::_ I growled out, immediately taking offence to the joking words. I was _nothing_ like him.

There was an immediate shift in Sideswipe. His mind felt hostile, and dangerous. There was an instant that I was terrified of him, that he would come up and rip me into little pieces. That he _wanted_ to.

_::Don't talk about him like that, you have no ide-:: _He cut himself off, but I could still feel the words dancing in the ether space that our minds communicated in.

I was silent, mentally fortifying myself. Sideswipe wasn't going to hurt me, and even if he did, I wasn't going to back down.

I would not be walked on.

_::At some point, we're all going to have to have a serious talk, you know?::_ I said, folding my fists tight against myself. My mental voice had come out strong, but I knew that it had fearful tendrils wrapped around it, and uncertainty backing it. Sideswipe would be able to feel that too.

Another wave of loathing for myself – I couldn't even stand up to the relatively harmless one in my mind. How was I supposed to talk to Sunstreaker without peeing myself?

_::Or we could just wait until you die,::_ Sunstreaker added, voice bland and deceptively calm.

Sideswipe was silent, but both Sunstreaker and I could tell he was nearly bursting with things to say. There seemed to be an expectant pause, and then Sideswipe quieted down, feeling anticipatory and contemplative. It felt odd.

_::There is that,::_ I conceded, feeling a flash of pain. Something about being told that essentially, you could go die now was painful, even if you didn't like the other being telling you that.

The bond between all three of us fell silent with his words.

My stomach growled ferociously, making me focus in on that instead.

Time to find some food, or someone who knew where I could get some.

Ignoring the silent twin whose flash of anger had faded as rapidly as it had come, I opened my eyes, preparing to be disappointed.

A small stab to the heart. I still had no vision at all – just a fuzzy black view was in front of my eyes.

There was no noise in the area I was laying. Nothing at all. I felt around myself; I was warm, comfortable and cosy. There was fabric above and below me.

A couch?

Both of the twins were silent – were they on the outs with one another?

I could feel both of them, in a portion of my mind, separated and yet, still connected.

"Ratchet?" I tried, feeling very alone and hesitant.

There was a grumble of old metal, and the scent of oil, although both were faint and muted.

"Jolt?"

Another rumble. The only other aliens I knew were the other twins, Optimus Prime and Ironhide. I didn't think that Ironhide would stoop to this – he seemed a very straight forward type of alien.

Optimus Prime was out of the question, I _knew_ it wasn't him, or Jolt. Both would have said something.

My brow furrowed. Was this even the medbay?

No, most likely not. There wasn't the pervading smell of something electrical and sharp in the air. So where was I? And who had put me here? I must be quite close to this base, because I could feel both of the twins.

I stood slowly, determined to figure out where I was. When I had run, I hadn't paid much attention to where I ended up.

My fingertips could only touch air. I felt all around me, swiping through nothingness. Other than the couch, I could not feel anything. As I reached out physically, I also reached out mentally, and could feel both of the twins. Sunstreaker was quite close, simmering with repressed, dark anger. I backed away from his mind as swiftly as possible.

Sideswipe was further away, but still easily within reach. He was annoyed and angry, and sort of twitchy feeling. He didn't seem to be fighting though – Sunstreaker felt like he'd destroy the next thing that crossed his path.

I pushed the thoughts about the twins from my mind.

"Hello?" I tried again.

I walked around the couch, and headed for the wall. Eventually I'd hit one, right? Yeah.

After only a few steps my fingers touched a wall, and I felt along it until I hit a door.

Had they stashed me in some small room with only a bed?

That was fine by me. I felt like I had been sleeping for ages. There was a faint rumbling sensation again – I chalked it up to one of them moving.

Flipping the door open, I breathed in the smell of metal and fresh oil. There was the slight tang of electricity in the air. I breathed in deeply, and exhaled harshly.

There was a crash, and the squeal of metal on metal. I flinched instinctively, before reaching out and grabbing the door jam.

A thin ribbon of light danced in front of my eyes, enabling me to see blurry shapes and figures, tinted in red.

"Human's up!" A female voice shouted, echoing around me. "Let Ratchet know!"

I wasn't surprised in the slightest that someone had found me. For all I knew, I could have climbed into a kitchen and fallen asleep on the table.

I had no idea who the voice could be. How many more 'bots could there be that I didn't know about?

Directly after I thought that, I felt like smacking myself in the head. They had a whole planet – which I had seen, and heard about. Of course there was more that I didn't know. Sheesh, talk about narrow-minded.

The voice had sounded slightly different – less deep than I was used to, with a softer edge to it.

A squeal of metal, and the sliding, crunching noises of a transformation was followed by another voice, eerily similar to the first.

"Done!" Tires squealed, echoing loudly. "Now, come at me!"

There was a snicker. "We're the same person, glitch, I know everything you're thinking already!"

What in the world?

"Hello?" I asked cautiously, but was drowned out by the tints of blue washing over my eyes, and the waves of heat scorching my face. Noise was all around me, filled with the crackling of over-stressed metal; the sound of shots fired; the squealing of tires and the smell of ozone, electricity and burned rubber.

I clung to the wall carefully, not brave enough to go out and explore when it sounded like every step would be my last. If even one shard of metal or shot missed, I'd be dead, impaled against the wall.

My heart was racing, but the most I was seeing was glints of red-tinted blue light flashing in front of my eyes.

_::What the frag are you terrified for, Alex?:: _ Sideswipe asked, sounding like he was about to burst into laughter.

If I hadn't been close to hyperventilating, I would have scowled. _::It sounds like there's a freakin' death match going on at my feet, and I'm in the middle of it, you moron,:: _ I snapped at him, feeling weak and hating myself for it, just a little bit.

There was a slight pause, where I got the impression that he was listening to what I could hear. _::No, that's nothing like a death match,:: _he said, voice a little softer. I got the mental impression of a head shake. _::That's just some friendly training,:: _he added easily.

I could feel Sunstreaker at the corner of my mind, listening and not saying anything.

Well, if I wasn't going to get killed, I might as well try to explore. No use in standing here.

Another noise filled the room, and I immediately knew who had come in.

"Arcee, stop training and blowing the fragging room up – we have a holo-deck for that!"

I smiled, feeling my whole body lighten and tense muscles loosen. Even though it had only been a few days, I had missed Ratchet. The flashes of vision faded as my heart rate lowered.

"Jolt is practically _living _on the holo-deck, Ratchet! A girl's gotta get her practice in somehow!" Girl? They had female robots? I hadn't thought that possible.

And holo-deck? What was that all about?

"The middle of the hangar is _not_ the place for it! What if you hit Alex with the spray?"

There was a slight scoff. "Come on, Ratchet, we'd never have hit her!" Arcee's voice seemed to be coming from three different areas. I wondered if I had a head injury – a concussion could cause a voice to fracture and splinter into multiple areas, if I remembered correctly. Or was that something else?

I wished I could see, just to make sure there was only one alien there. But she was using the plural pronouns. Oh, this was confusing!

"Are you functional, Alex?"

I nodded briefly, a smile curling my lips.

"Did you have a satisfactory time with your parents?" he asked, voice sounding slightly awkward.

My back stiffened as memory flooded back. The hours-long drive, talking to Jace, my family... Mom's smile, Dad's twinkling eyes as he stole the last chunk of Mom's chicken, the comfortable silence and companionship as all three of us watched television.

I swallowed. Until this whole fiasco was over, I couldn't go back. I couldn't contact them; possibly never again.

My eyes stung. I lowered my head, trying to hide my face.

"It was perfect."

* * *

Ratchet had somehow procured food for me – enough to feed about six humans. I had eaten bits and pieces, until I was full, and the rest of the food had been swept to the side by one massive metal hand.

He had carried me into the med bay, set off to one side on a table, carefully out of the way. I could hear him working away, creating something. His growls about an idiot had been easily discernible over the hiss of the welding torch.

I had been relatively silent, needing time to myself to think.

Sideswipe's emotions were whirling around inside my mind, bored and antsy, mischievous and scheming. Sunstreaker was brooding darkly.

I was taking a little bit of time to think about what I wanted. What needed to happen, what I should be doing. It was more difficult than I had imagined it might be.

There was so little left for me to have, with a whole new world of possibilities. I knew a lot of people would be over the moon with the knowledge that aliens existed, and to be in direct contact would be a nerd's fantasy.

I wasn't like that. I had loved what I had, before all of this happened. But that was all water under the bridge now – the best thing to do would be to accept it and move on; make the most of the hand that life had dealt me.

It was hard.

During the nights, all I wanted, with all my heart, was for life to regain that simplicity that I had once known.

I knew, deep down, that it would never be the same again. And that scared me, more than I wanted to say.

Somewhere along the line of all my musing, I fell asleep, sheltered and warm in the med bay, listening to Ratchet curse and swear at metal and wiring. The _clang_ of metal was soothing.

* * *

I was jolted awake by a spasm of pain in my head. Sunstreaker's shout was the first thing I heard. It was the first time I had ever heard his normally smooth and deep voice raised in anything other than a deep growl.

_::I can't accept it, you fragger! We don't need a little fleshy creature interfering in our minds! The rotting meat sack only slows us down, and we can't talk freely. You know how much we have to censor around the _thing_, how is that helpful?::_ He growled out the words darkly, caught somewhere between shouting and snarling.

Sideswipe's left shoulder exploded in pain, and I gasped, feeling my own arm shriek in agony. The twins were too involved in their fight to even notice that I was awake.

Sideswipe interjected, making Sunstreaker's right knee weaken and send pain shooting through his mind. I choked back a shriek, stuffing my fingers around the knee, hoping the pain would fade. It did in a moment, cutting off in a direct manner that was unlike anything I had ever felt before.

Both were annoyed and seemed exhausted with this line of questioning, like they had had this argument before.

_::She's a third of the bond, Sunny. Maybe more. We can't just disregard that. If you kill her, can you take the chance that Shockwave messed up the bond even more than you think, and she's the only thing holding it together?:: _Sideswipe pressed, making a flare of cold go through my stomach.

This wasn't working. None of us liked to talk to one another, and Sunstreaker seemed to be taking it the hardest.

_::Like you want a fleshy in your mind, invading your most private thoughts and feeling what your spark does,::_ Sunstreaker snorted, dealing another lance of pain to Sideswipe's hip. I gasped, fingers flying to cup the area gently, feeling my body tingle. My mind felt like it was being torn into two, ripped to shreds by the powerful beings fighting. I wasn't made to take this sort of abuse.

That was the moment they noticed me, mind and body aching in agony.

Sunstreaker growled at me.

_::How long have you been online and listening?::_

_::You two woke me up – I don't know how long I was awake for though.::_

_::Long enough,::_ Sunstreaker grumped.

_::I wish it was fixed,:: _I added again, knowing that neither of them really cared what I thought, nor would my wish make Sunstreaker like me more. Sideswipe had just admitted it to his twin not long ago – I was a necessary evil for the time being.

_::Wishing is pointless,:: _Sunstreaker said, voice low.

I agreed with him. Only idiots wished for things that couldn't happen.

_::I can't help it though – although I can admit that I want to have my head to myself again.::_ I was definitely selfish enough to allow that – for humans, it was unnatural to have someone else listening to their every thought. I couldn't imagine having grown up with someone else in my head, knowing my every thought, my every emotion.

It would definitely limit any romantic relationships. If the aliens even had them.

Sunstreaker's emphatic agreement on wanting me out was easily felt. Sideswipe was much the same, although he didn't mind me being in his mind as much, as long as he could talk to his Sunny.

For a moment, I was completely envious of the twins. They had each other, in a stronger bond than I had ever seen before. Even if they were arguing and fighting, it was obvious that _they_ were the only ones allowed to do such a thing to the other.

Completely and utterly codependent and yet not. Possessive and protective, yet nonchalant and relaxed. Watchful and annoyed at the same time. The two were complete oxymorons.

My fingers caressed the rough denim of my jeans as I dug into a pocket, slightly cool fingers tightening around my phone and communicator that Ratchet had given me.

All three of us were silent.

It was either silence or snapping at each other.

I had a feeling that silence would reign dominant for a while to come.

* * *

My head ached.

As I moved on the sofa, my side ached suddenly; a fierce, biting pain. My face scrunched tightly as pain shot up and down my spine.

I poked my fingers at my side, wincing sharply when my blunt nails encountered tender flesh. As I inhaled, I breathed in the scent of hot metal and grease. The throbbing bruise tore my attention. When did this happen?

Their argument raced through my mind, and I blinked. _Oh, hell no. Please, please, don't be the answer._

The injury was in the exact same place as Sideswipe's smack from his _beloved_ brother. I had a bruise on my shoulder and knee, same place as the twins shoving mentally at each other. This could be a serious problem, with some real consequences. What if they smacked each other in the head? I _needed_ that!

Did I bring it up to them? I could just imagine the conversation.

What did it mean? Why was it happening?

Ratchet talked to me, distracting me from what I was thinking.

"Do you feel like recharging? I need to scan you."

Lip quirking up slightly, I smiled. "_Need_? Or want?"

"Need." His voice brooked no argument – something had him annoyed. I nodded, feeling my shyness creep up on me. Only around a few people did I let my snark escape. Or with those who annoyed me. Like the twins.

I shook my head. "I don't think I'll need to sleep for hours yet. I just woke up." Why hadn't he scanned me when I was asleep? I asked him that.

"I was busy."

He sounded short, and sort of harassed. It made me upset hearing his annoyed tone. I _hated_ it when people I cared about were annoyed. Especially now – I didn't know if he was angry with _me_ or someone else. And I didn't have the guts to ask him.

"So are you going to knock me out?"

I knew he was contemplating it by the ominous silence.

Eventually, he must have decided that a blow to the head just wasn't medically justifiable at this time. Good. I didn't want any more bruises to add to the collection. It sucked that normal medication didn't work on me. Perhaps then I'd have been able to take something for the constant, raging headache.

My mind wandered over what I had recently heard and seen. I felt my face scrunch as I remembered the alien with multiple pronouns.

"Ratchet? Who was that...Arcee 'bot? It sounded sort of…feminine. And multiple." I cut him off as he lectured me on proper nutrition. I'd always had a bit of extra pudge – not eating for a while wouldn't be enough to get rid of that. He must have thought that the food I'd eaten before just wasn't enough.

There was a slight pause in which I could hear a faint crunching of gears and fans whirling, and then Ratchet spoke, voice slightly cranky, but obliging.

"Arcee is a different model than myself, or say, Ironhide. When we came to this planet, she decided to take a female pronoun."

So they just decided if they were male or female to humans? Weird. And slightly cool.

Was it based on personality? Like, the more aggressive, confrontational aliens were male, and such.

Or was it based upon function? Ratchet as a medical officer needed to be bulky to hold down some patients, and Optimus Prime was a leader. Traditionally, those were male.

Perhaps it was to their voice? Although that idea seemed the flimsiest.

I asked Ratchet. Hopefully it wasn't something taboo to their culture.

"Each 'bot chose their gender. There are different models and functions, but in the end it boiled down to personality chips."

That made some sense. It was impossible to think of the twins as anything but male. A mental flash of a female Sunstreaker snapped through my head, and a tiny smile curled my lips. The image was just too funny.

"So, with Arcee, how come it sounds like she is in more than one body?"  
"Because she is. Her spark was split in three many vorns ago, in an experimental study."

"That's possible?" My shock was nearly palpable. The words experimental study rang something in me. Was she like me, just a little bit? Experimented on because of what was in her? Or just because? "So she's like my two, only in three?"

There was another whirring of gears and clicking of metal on metal.

"Not exactly. Those two are a special case – truly one spark split into two, coexisting within range of each other, but they can be separated. Arcee's was never meant to be split, and her spark cannot handle long distance separation."

"So she was training with herself? And what's a holo-deck?" I felt like I was starting to get a handle on this whole thing, understanding more about them and their culture.

"The holo-deck is located on the lower floors of the base. It has been functional for some time now. Some of our best engineers worked on the technology."

I was still confused. "So what does it do?"

More metal grinding and gears churning. I assumed that he was looking for ways to translate it to human.

"In your terms, it is a 'simulation room', designed to hone our battle skills."

I felt my stomach clench. Part of the idea sounded cool – of course it did! A room designed to allow people (or robots) to learn how to better kill each other. That was the part that didn't sound too cool.

"Can you simulate other things?"

There was grumbling and crunching metal.

"Not currently. The main engineer of the holo-deck hasn't landed on Earth yet."

"He's coming here?"

A gusty sigh of air. "So far, there is no word that Wheeljack is on his way here."

I had a flash of insight. "You two are close, huh?"

Ratchet snorted and grumbled, denying it. But I could hear the fondness hidden below the crankiness. "Hmph. As if – that Pit-spawned glitch'll blow himself up permanently one of these days." His voice dipped into a morbid tone. "If he hasn't already."

I didn't know what to say to that. I'd never been into the false platitudes that many other people spewed out. I wasn't going to lie to him, especially when he'd _know_ that I was lying. That seemed straight-out foolish.

I sat in silence, and before long, I could hear him muttering to himself, and tinkering with something. Probably making a piece for one of the others.

It was peaceful, and normal. I had gotten very good at sitting still for long periods of time, just listening to life around me.

And the robots were definitely alive. There was a thrum to their metal, that called to me, tingling my fingers and body like captured static electricity.

Ratchet was pissed when he looked up at me – I had no idea how long I had been sitting in the med bay, but it felt like it had been hours. The couch where he had helped me was comfortable, and soft.

"Alex! How did you injure yourself?"

I frowned. To my knowledge, I hadn't. No bumps against anything, no knocks to the head. I felt like I was forgetting something. What could he be talking about?

I asked him just that.

"Massive internal hemorrhage located around your right knee, right hip and left shoulder. The bruises are fresh, created less than a joor ago." His voice turned deadly. "How did this happen?"

My brain hopped to _how _he knew I had bruising.

"I have long-sleeves on," I muttered, puzzled. How had Ratchet seen the bruises – especially the ones on my hip?

He must have scanned me. But I hadn't felt anything?

My brow furrowed. "You scanned me? When?"

"Nearly a breem ago." There was a lurch of metal, and a screeching, crunching sound. "I scanned you."

"And I didn't feel anything," I continued, a small smile starting to crawl across my face. I felt daring and bold when I spoke again. "Try it again, Ratchet, scan me."

There was a slight pause, in which I felt nothing.

"Did you do it?" I asked, after several heart pounding moments.

"Your heart rate is up, and the levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine have significantly jumped."

I felt giddy, jittery; heart racing and pounding in my ears. "I didn't feel anything. Holy hell, Ratchet, what the hell is this?!"

Slices of the med bay flashed by my eyes – the medic, hands propped on his hips, grey metal behind him. The couch, ugly orange floral cushions searing against the grey metal walls. Where had they dragged up this nineteen seventies relic?

_::Alex?::_ Sideswipe enquired, breaking the silence of hours. It felt weird, but I was so giddy that it didn't matter.

_::No pain, no pain!::_ I cheered, nearly jumping about in joy.

There was a moment of silence, and then a smug little voice spoke. _"Fixed it."_

My elation disappeared in a flash, dying away in little chunks of vision.

How much of me had been changed? How much of me remained as _me_? How much else had been _fixed_?

"_Only enough to ensure the successful integration of Alexandra Wells."_

Oh, that sounded ominous. Integration? Of what? Me – how could I be integrated? And my little voice had certainly expanded its vocabulary.

I ignored Sideswipe in turning to Ratchet, blood cold.

"What does this mean, Ratchet? How much _more_ has changed?"

"I'm running a scan now to ascertain the level of change that has occurred in your body, Alex. The scan should be finished in a few more astroseconds."

"Ratchet, what's happening to me?"

I didn't want anything else to change, and even though I had thought about how my life was changing, I didn't want more change. But I'd have to deal with it.

_::What's up, Alex? What's with the crazy mood swings?:: _Sideswipe's voice dropped slightly. _::You're not PMS-ing, or whatever human females do, right?::_

_::Not now, Sideswipe,::_ I snapped out, mentally shoving a hand into his face. It felt very satisfying. My face burned, and my forehead throbbed. Fantastic. More proof. A mental-physical connection was _just_ what I needed now. Oh! I needed to tell Ratchet _that. _But I wanted to know what was changing in me first. If I told Ratchet that, he'd be off on a rant about the twins for a while. I needed to know about my body.

My heartbeat was in my ears, stomach in my throat. The world was completely black, and for a moment I preferred it that way. No colour or shades of grey to mess with my thoughts.

"Ratchet?"

His continued silence was making me nervous. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, but it felt like several years had gone by.

Perhaps I had grey hair by now.

"From what I can tell, your genetic makeup has changed, with the most noticeable change being to your digestive tract and brain."

"Brain? What's changing in my brain?"

The brain was the most important part of me – my memories, my personality; everything that made me _me_ was in my mind.

"Many more connections have been created – billions more than a normal human brain creates in the time that has passed from my past scan. These connections are all over the cerebral cortex, although I don't know _why _they have formed. This is unprecedented – nothing in human medical studies has ever shown anything like this."

More points in the freak column.

I decided to bring up my previous explorations and ideas. If the bruises were connected to the twins, was it not possible that this could be too? Right! I'd forgotten earlier, but Ratchet needed to know that the twin's fighting had caused bruises.

"Could this be connected to my, uh, _thing_ with the twins?"

There was dead silence from Ratchet, the whirring of ceiling fans the only thing to break the silence.

It all made sense, now that I had remembered how the bruises were in the same place as the fighting between the two.

"I'm going to dismantle them and reformat them into alarm clocks! That way their fragging jabbering could be put to use!"

Clearly, my theory wasn't that far out into left field if Ratchet was so inflamed. That made me more nervous, not less.

But there wasn't anything I could do about it. Not at all. It seemed like the more I was in contact with the twins, the more I changed.

Who knew what would end up happening? So far, my money was on me dying. Sure, it was morbid, but that seemed to be the way this would end up. It was like the twins were a fire, eating up what was left inside me, burning me out from the inside.

"The twins caused the bruising and the cranial changes?" I asked, just to be completely certain.

"As far as I can tell, the little fraggers. Any other symptoms you can tell me?"

I shook my head. "Other than a headache, I feel fine."

A sharp squeal of metal rent the air. "How long?" he growled, mechanical voice low and dangerous.

"Always."

His engine rumbled dangerously, sending vibrations back at me through the walls.

I shrugged, and then remembered that he was in a tetchy mood lately. I didn't want to aggravate him any further, so I elaborated. "I've had a headache for months now. Nothing helps, so I'm just dealing with it."

"Is it getting worse?"  
My eyes narrowed in thought.

"Yes."

* * *

Jace's fingers shook as he clicked the keys firmly, hitting the backspace button more often than not. Q's rich voice rolled in his ear. The man had finally called him back, and had been speaking to him for ten minutes now.

Q continued smoothly. "They must have been cleaning up loose ends. They couldn't allow your sister to maintain contact with her parents. She must have escaped them and managed to make it to your parents."

Jace felt a frown crease his brow as he took another shot of his waning energy drink. His fingers were jittering, and his leg was tapping out a fast rhythm under his cluttered desk. "That doesn't make sense – she's blind. There's no way that she could escape them unless she had some super powers or something. And they were with her all the time – the footage proves that, if you go back and follow them.

"I think that they took her to see my parents, and then another faction came for her. Why?

"Then the ones that attack my parents, they act differently – it makes no sense for the ones who have my sister to take her to our parents, then race off and come back and kill them. If they wanted her scarred, they'd have left her in the house to see them being _killed_," he forced out, fighting past the urge to vomit.

The young hacker halted his words, immediately thinking he had said too much. It was obvious that Q was trying to keep things from him, and he was proving that he was smarter than he let on.

_Stupid Jace. _At least he didn't blab about the cellphone.

There was more though – so much didn't add up, didn't mesh with what Q had told him, and what he had observed.

There _had_ to be two groups – nothing made sense other than that. Why would there be two groups?

Different ideals, obviously, but there was still too many unanswered questions. He'd have to do some more digging. These aliens must have some sort of online presence, right? He merely had to find them.

Q was scarily perceptive. "Your family, another casualty in this alien war we're fighting. I need you, Jace. To make sure this never happens to another family."

He clicked at the screen, wondering if there was some way for him to track the aliens. A substance in their body, or something? He'd have to bring it up to Q. But not now.

"I never want this to happen again," Jace muttered, barely aware of what he was saying. Part of him was screaming, begging him to rage and beat his fists, tear up the next person who spoke to him.

"They're monsters. Creatures who like to kill humans, just because they can. Like we kill spiders. We're the only ones who can fight for humanity." Q's voice was liquid velvet.

"Why not just out them? Let the world know of them, see how they handle it." Jace's voice cracked a little. He cleared his throat, hoping Q didn't notice.

There was a soft chuckle. "Oh Jace, your straightforwardness amuses me. If the mass populace knew about the aliens, there would be pandemonium. People would destroy their vehicles and technology stocks would plummet. We would be flung back technologically, with chaos across the world.

"It is a possibility in the future. Just not now."

Q drew his attention again, distracting him from his thoughts. "Do you have the coordinates from the data I sent you?"

He adjusted the headset, fingers playing over the keys as he looked again at the data Q had given him on the USB.

It didn't seem too difficult.

"Give me a few hours, and I'll have coordinates for you." He was careful to not mention anything about his family. Q was acting very strange, especially where his family was involved. _Blood, dripping from his mother's head_. He shuddered, and grit his teeth.

"I'll hold you to that, Jace." Q's voice was dark, a dagger wrapped in thin civility.

He gritted his teeth and flew into the data, disconnecting the call before Q could. _Ha. Eat that._

* * *

Jace sighed, leaning back in his chair. He'd just finished sending the coordinates to Q – Hannover, Germany. Now Q wouldn't disturb him for a while – he could work on finding the aliens and getting her back.

Jace tightened his fingers around the desk, hands cramping as he stretched them out. He stretched his back, feeling it pop and crack in multiple places. Cracking open another Monster energy drink, he took a healthy slug of the citrus fluid. Crumpled cans littered the area around his desk, and he swivelled over to his other screen, pushing cans out of the way with his toes. The tips of his socks were wet.

He shoved the raw emotions aside, using the rage and helplessness to fuel his search. There _had_ to be a way to locate his little sister.

Running through the footage of his family again, he growled, fingers flying over the keys. There had to be something, he couldn't have lost her _again_, no, he'd find her, he'd get her, he'd protect her, he'd get her back.

Dark eyes locked on a frame, instantly halting the playback and tapping the screen backwards. A faint gleam lit his eyes.

His sister had been given a cellphone, and his mother had given him the number. He'd had to pause the program that had been hard at work to hunt down the phone's location.

The program hacked through into tracing the GPS of the phone. The young man sighed, rubbing under his eyes with one hand, feeling the grit of his eyes.

She (or, the phone) was in Germany. Hannover. It made sense- she was with the aliens, and the city was an access point to major highways in all directions. They'd blend in more too.

His dark eyes widened dramatically as his thoughts darted to the coordinates that he had sent to Q. Hannover.

Shit.

* * *

Once I managed to get out of the med bay, some hours later – after copious scans, grumbling and thrown objects – I went looking for Jolt.

I kept one hand on the wall as I walked along, hoping to find some way down. Down to the lower levels, to find the holo-deck.

Arcee had said that he was there, right? Jolt. I wanted to talk to him.

We'd grown closer on the drive to my house and the ensuing chase. And he was the best to talk to about the whole S7 thing – he'd been there, right?

Walking along the wall, I felt for a door, and listened for someone to come walking down the hall. I would have asked Ratchet, but he still seemed really annoyed, and that just increased when he learned that I was having constant headaches (which I hadn't mentioned to him).

Finally, I felt a door, and opened it, moving inside carefully. I hadn't fallen down stairs in a long time, but it didn't pay to be hasty. Jolt wasn't going anywhere. And if he did, I could find him.

Eventually.

I was in luck – the stairs led downwards.

I ignored the twins – Sunstreaker was still sulking, and Sideswipe was mischievous.

A few hours later, I wasn't so sure that I was heading in the right direction. This was a new base – I was totally lost. I'd gone left, right, down, up, and retraced my steps. Now, there was no way that I knew how to get back to the med bay. There had been some odd passages, but I had been able to get through.

I wandered, looking for Jolt, looking for anyone.

I could hear something up ahead of me, calling to me. Moving forwards, I stretched slightly, feeling my head ache fiercely.

"Come to break us out?"

I knew that voice.

They were in the brig. I had managed to find my way to the brig? Fantastic.

"Room for another one in here," Sideswipe wheedled. "Oh, or better yet – go get me something to _do_! I'm fragging dying here!"

_::Alex,::_ he whined.

I wondered again why they were in here – what had they done?

"Because of you," Sunstreaker growled out.

"Me." I quirked an eyebrow, wondering how he came up with that. Memories of pain and blood and lightning shot through my mind, and I immediately knew. They didn't have to tell me.

"Oh," I murmured.

"So, what brings you to the cheery brig?" Sideswipe cheekily spoke. I could feel a mental eyebrow wiggle. I could also feel the scalding glower from the other occupant of my mind.

I was about to turn around and leave when Sideswipe snickered. "You're lost, aren't'cha?"

_::Busted,::_ he smirked.

I rolled my eyes and moved backwards.

"Have fun in the brig."

Now, to find the holo-deck.

_::Holo-deck?::_ A sneaky feeling washed through his mind. _::I'll make you a deal.::_

_::A deal? What kind?::_

_::Directions to the holo-deck, in exchange for…something amusing. Surprise me.::_

I thought about it, trying to ignore his needling in the corners of my mind.

I could wander around for days, lost. Or I could find the holo-deck and get him a little something.

_::I'll bite. Where is the holo-deck?::_

Instantly, instructions to the holo-deck were in my mind, an easy to follow path. There was even a little coloured line depicting which way to follow and how many steps from each turn. Slightly degrading, but I'd take it.

_::And what do I get in return?::_ Sideswipe asked, sounding shifty and intrigued.

I shrugged one shoulder, already following the steps.

"Whatever I can dig up."

When I took a step, the map in my head moved accordingly, keeping me on track. Nice.

I'd have to make sure that I actually got the git something decent. This was a really useful map – even if the colour-coding was slightly over the top. Then again, so was Sideswipe.

I followed the map exactly, and managed to find the holo-deck. My lungs were heaving, and my heart was pounding – clearly, I'd need to work on my stamina. I'd have never found it on my own; the place was down seven more floors and nearly on the other side of the base.

_::Thanks, Sideswipe.::_

_::Got nothing better to do.::_ He sounded a little down, which was understandable, considering that he was in the brig for four months or so. _::'Sides, I did it so you'd bring me something.:: _He added in a cocky voice.

I checked the map mentally, and opened my eyes, to blackness. This was the holo-deck entrance, but I couldn't hear anything. You'd think a battle simulation would be noisy, but it was completely silent.

The metal was cold beneath my hand, but I could feel faint whispers of warmth arcing through the alloy.

I knocked, the sound reverberating through the metal. "Jolt? It's Alex."

There was silence, so I tried again. Still nothing.

My fingers quested the metal for a doorknob before I remembered that there would be none, because the transformers had no need for humans to be here. From what Ratchet had told me, this was their private getaway, and only they could use it. Something about plugging into the computer so the whole simulation was in their mind.

The door slid open. I stepped through, and closed my eyes. They were no use to me, but part of me still wanted to leave them open. Habit, and all.

"Jolt?"

"Alex. How are you?"

"I'm good – what are you doing?"

There was a soft chuckle. "I'd show you if I could, but it only operates within our processor. I'm running simualtions."

I sighed. "Jolt – I'm sorry."

There was a slight creak of metal. "I am not the only one who deserves your apology."

Ratchet.

My head tilted downwards. "You're right. I probably really worried him."

_That_ was why he was so annoyed. I was so insensitive. I resolved to go find him right after this.

I spoke to Jolt a little longer, the guilt starting to gnaw at my insides. Ratchet had given me a way to contact him, and been worried about me, and all I had been thinking about was me.

I was so selfish.

A few minutes later, I heard a sigh of air. "You should go talk to him. It'll make you feel better."

I nodded in agreement. "Why are you down here, Jolt? Arcee said that you'd been here for a while."

He was silent. "It takes my thoughts away."

"From what?" I asked, before actually thinking about what I asked. "Uh, never mind."

Jolt remained quiet.

I smiled up at the transformer. "Thanks for talking to me, Jolt."

"Anytime, Alexandra." His voice was warm, but slightly distracted.

I left the room, immediately hearing the massive metal door slide shut behind me.

Accessing the mental map Sideswipe had given me, I backtracked past the brig and upwards. Sideswipe whined a little bit.

_::Al~ex. When am I going to get my trade?::_

_::As soon as I think of something you'd find amusing.::_

_::Anything'll do at this point. Frag, even a comic book'd help!::_

I moved back up the stairs, following the other edges of the map. After another hour or two, I managed to find the med bay again.

"Ratchet?" I asked, hearing my voice echo.

There was a snort of metal. "Back from your adventure?"

He still sounded annoyed, but now I knew why.

"I'm sorry Ratchet. Really, I am. I didn't mean to worry you and I've been an ass to you."

Ratchet grumbled and snorted, in that way that he did when he was embarrassed.

"Your vitals look decent, considering the stress you've put on your body, gallivanting up and down the base."

I smiled a half smile chock-full of sincerity. "Thank you, Ratchet. For everything."

"Alex – your parents-"

I cut him off. "They're okay, right?"

"I will have Jolt check immediately."

He was silent for half a second.

"Do you want them brought to the base for increased safety?" Ratchet asked.

I took a moment to think it over. My mom, impulsive and dramatic. Dad, quiet and dry-witted. Here, on a military base? With giant robots? And changing to a military lifestyle? I didn't think that would be good for my parents. Although I wasn't sure what was best.

"No. I can't uproot their lives too – this is my fight."

He was silent for another moment.

"You are not alone, Alex."

I had a flash of vision – a yellow and silver metal giant staring down, blue eyes focused intently on me. My mouth curved in a light smile.

"Thank you Ratchet." I took a deep breath. "Until Sector Seven is gone, for good – and the Decepticons are gone too – I won't see my parents. It isn't safe for them."

My eyes flicked downwards. "It probably wasn't safe to go see them in the first place." I looked back up at the giant, vision fading to black as I did so. "I'd die to keep them safe."  
Ratchet interjected then. "Perhaps it would be best to move them to a new location – one that Sector Seven couldn't locate."

I thought this through carefully. What if they managed to track me? Yes, moving them was much safer. It would give us the upper hand.

I told Ratchet as much.

"You should make sure that Jace knows though – my brother deserves to know they're alive and where they are."

"Very well. However, know that we cannot save everyone."

I nodded, eyes downcast.

"It would be safer for them to be at a base – if they are not, they might be used against you, to force you to do something against your will."

Shaking my head quickly, I replied. "No, I can't do that to them. I've had no choice in what happened to me. I don't want them involved in all this."

"I will do my best."

Ratchet was quiet for a moment, and I almost thought like I could hear a faint whirring sound.

"Alex, Optimus Prime is back. He'd like to speak to you."

I nodded, wondering what the big robot wanted to talk to me about. Perhaps something to do with the agents.

I was picked up in his warm metal hand, cradled gently in his palm. We moved down the halls, air rushing past my face in warm gusts as Ratchet's vent blew.

We moved into a big room, the noise of metal feet dying down as Ratchet stopped. I could tell another 'bot was in the room.

"Alexandra, it pleases me to see you back well and safe."

I smiled in the direction of the big voice. "I'm happy to be safe to. I have to apologize. You were right – it was stupid to go see my family."

"I understand the desire to see what is familiar; I cannot deny that I long for Cybertron."

"I'm sorry for placing your 'bots in danger, Optimus Prime. It was stupid to hurt others. What if one of them had been caught by Sector Seven?"

"Nothing happened to my 'bots, but it is good that you are wise enough to see what could have happened. I accept your apology, Alexandra Wells, and give you one of my own. I apologize for the lateness of my punishments for Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. I should have punished them months ago for what happened to you."

I shook my head, safe in Ratchet's grasp. "It wasn't your fault, Optimus Prime. I really appreciate all you've done for me already."

"It was what you desired, and you have been extremely patient with us already." His deep voice resonated off the walls.

He continued. "However, I do require your assistance with the remainder of their punishment."

He wanted me to decide how to punish them?

"Harming a human is a very serious offence," he said, voice deep. Ratchet snarled and growled.

"Those fraggers ought to be shredded and reformatted into mini-bots," he growled out, palm shivering lightly beneath me. I hoped he didn't forget that I was in his hand. It wasn't enough to make me move though – I still trusted him a lot.

I looked down, still staring into blackness.

Optimus Prime spoke. "If you desire, we will place them into stasis until the war is over, to be tried then."

"How long until the war is over?"

There was a pregnant pause. "Our war has been going on since longer than the Earth has existed, with no end in sight."

I felt my mind reel, trying to take that in. "Longer than the… holy crap."

They could be in stasis for millennia. I couldn't do that to them. No.

"Are there any other options?" I asked, voice tight. Putting them into permanent stasis would be like killing them. I couldn't do that to them (or anyone) – not for such a small thing (comparatively).

Ratchet grumbled. "Brig duty, cleaning the floors by hand, helping with menial chores," he sighed. "Too tame for them."

I shook my head in disagreement. Sideswipe was so hyperactive; I bet he'd hate to have to clean the floors, over and over. And Sunstreaker would hate it too – it might scratch his paint. I smirked.

"Sounds perfect."

Sideswipe chose that moment to whine in my head. _::Geez, I thought you being like Sunny was bad enough, but you're actually like Prowl! I'm not going to make it through this!::_

_::Who is Prowl?:: _I asked, before remembering that I was supposed to be listening somewhere else. _::No, tell me later,::_ I interjected, listening to Prime instead.

"You wish for them to do menial duties around the base?"

I nodded. "I think that would be most painful for them – barring physical separation or stasis. I couldn't ever do that."

"Very well. The typical duration is eight orns."

My face scrunched up. "How long is an orn in human time again?"

"Roughly two weeks," Ratchet gruffly supplied.

I did some fast mental math. "So, four months again?"

"Yes."

"That sounds good," I nodded, hoping that this was done with now. Punishment seemed a really difficult thing to talk about. And it wasn't like I could actually cause them pain – it would just hurt me too.

* * *

Later on, I slipped Sideswipe a game copy of Tradewinds to complete my half of the deal - after Ratchet assured me that transformers had the ability to use the "primitive" software.

Within two hours he'd completed the game seven times, with Sunstreaker snorting his derision and commenting on moves that the silver Corvette should have made.

* * *

**A****N**: **So. Anyone catch the TF: Prime line? :) Sorry about the late update – life is bonkers.**


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